Volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and floods are frequent occurrences around the globe, and the February edition of the Science Book Forum, held at Qatar National Library recently, probed the origin and impact of these natural disasters, which affect the lives of millions of people.
Participants discussed what these disasters tell us about our planet’s evolution, and gained valuable insights from research being done in the area of natural hazard science, the library said in a statement.
Interactive discussions were also enhanced by the rich array of illustrations, photographs and maps presented by planetary scientist and chair of the Science Book Forum, Dr Essam Heggy.
Varun Muhel, a student at MES Indian School who attended the forum, said: “I learned that natural disasters can happen anywhere, at any time and most important, why they happen. We study some of these topics in school, too, but taking part in a lively discussion like this makes it easier for me to understand the scientific reasons behind these incidents.”
Another participant, Mohamed Housam, said: “We currently don’t see any major natural disasters happening in this region, but as the lecture highlighted, major floods used to happen often. Therefore, it is important to talk about common disasters such as volcanoes, floods and bushfires like the one that recently happened in Australia, and also try to find scientific solutions to at least reduce the chances of these things happening.”


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