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How much pollution are we leaving behind?

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Our soil has developed over thousands of years,  

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a process that can’t be reproduced.

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Any major intrusion is a real problem.

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This obviously affects Hannover, too. 

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Soil has various functions. It serves as a habitat for plants.

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It absorbs water – important in flood protection. 

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It absorbs and binds substances that would pollute the groundwater.

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In 2009, we developed an assessment method in cooperation with Leibniz University 

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to detect soils in Hannover that are worthy of protection,

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thereby creating a vast pool of knowledge.  

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The less we spend now on preventive measures, 

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the more we’ll have to spend on damage control later on.

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Also, soils can never be restored to their original states. 

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The problem is not so much damaging the soil itself as impairing its functions, 

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like filtering rainwater into clean and safe drinking water. 

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Such problems call for protective measures. 

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This playground in Hannover Linden is in the immediate vicinity 

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of a former dump site for construction and bulk waste, as well as scrap metal.

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We‘re taking soil samples to check for contamination.

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The samples will be sent to a lab and we’ll later analyze the results. 

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City capital Hannover takes preventive measures against contamination. 

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Before any interference with soils on municipal land,   

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such as construction of a school or Kindergarten, we consult the Environmental Information System.

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It provides us with relevant information regarding the sites previous use.   

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Soil protection and soil use are pragmatic issues, a fact reflected in our courses. 

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During field training, we try to hone our students’ skills   

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in detecting damage or other irregularities.

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This is an ongoing collaboration. 

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We examine soils in light of climate protection and climate change.

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One of the students is writing a bachelor thesis 

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titled “Climate-relevant soils in the urban area of Hannover“.

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The human impact on the environment is most prominent in cities: 

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many sealed surfaces, developed sites, a high building density,  

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and hardly any functioning natural soils.

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This is why soils in cities have very little cooling function.

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The result is even warmer air. 

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We refer to this phenomenon as urban heat island effect. 

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The results are enlightening. 

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They will be included in the soil function assessments  

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as well as in the city’s climate adaptation plan -

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an important tool that shows cold air areas and fresh air corridors.

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The map that Leonore Menzel is working on will also be included into this plan. 

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A number of factors make the problem even more acute: 

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expanding urbanization, steadily growing population density,   

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and increasing need for building plots. 

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There’s a huge demand for housing and commercial plots in Hannover. 

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But we could try to realize such projects on less valuable soils. 

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This is one of most important aspects of soil protection. 

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Anything put into the soil stays there, and is bound to resurface sooner or later.