A ‘Deep City’ Approach to Climate Change: The Case of Deep Oakland

Deep Oakland: How Geology Shaped a City, presents a seldom-attempted blend of human and geologic history, explaining the stories told by the physical landscape and detailing how the city has interacted with it. Wealth generated in the region from its geological resources―water, stone, soil and minerals―has influenced societies from the pre-contact Ohlones to the Americans of yesterday and today. So have the hazards of earthquake, fire, drought and changing sea level. Today, climate change has shown us that nature and civilization are not separate realms; the idea they are is an illusion that grows ever more costly.

The topic of a city’s rocks and landmarks is a natural entree to a more global, “deep time” centered standpoint that can enrich readers in new ways as they guide their communities toward more sustainable policies. The pleasures of learning to see one’s familiar surroundings in new depth, as geoheritage, translate to deeper engagement in determining a city’s collective future. Recent advances in geology, from plate tectonics to digital visualizations, have given geologists unprecedented ways to tell the histories of the cities they live in; Deep Oakland proves the power of a geologist’s approach to equip the public for policy engagement based on nature’s long-term trends and demands.

An in-person and virtual presentation by Andrew Alden, geologist and geoscience writer