QNL Executive Director, Dr Sohair Wastawy (left), with planetary scientist, Dr Essam Heggy, during the lecture held at the QNL yesterday. Pic: Salim Matramkot/The Peninsula
Doha: How the continuously changing natural environment of Qatar defines its past, present, and future was discussed yesterday during a lecture held at the Qatar National Library (QNL).
Also the groundwater evolution in deserts, and how it contributes to changing environmental and societal factors in desert areas was discussed by Planetary scientist Dr Essam Heggy during the lecture on ‘Understanding Space Exploration and the Natural Forces that Shaped the Qatar Peninsula.’
The public lecture concluded a week of events celebrating QNL’s grand opening.
Dr Heggy, a planetary scientist at the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California, and a ROSETTA co-investigator at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, discussed how climate evolution has shaped the history of Earth, as well as that of other planets in the solar system.
He also addressed the unique case of the Qatar Peninsula, with its ever-changing coastlines driven by several active natural forces. According to Dr Heggy, early inhabitants of Qatar would have had an intimate understanding of groundwater and sea levels, dune movements, coral reef evolution, and shallow-water navigation, and adapted their daily survival in response to the shifts in each. “Our climate is changing, and the only way to survive it is to understand it,” he said.
Dr Heggy talked about the meaning of Qatar’s flag and the map, and presented his views about the changes in Qatar’s coastline.
He said, “All maps (of Qatar) contain records of some of the most significant climatic changes we have seen. From the maps available in the library (QNL) we can speculate that something very strongly related to climate change has influenced.”
“The climate and environment in Qatar have shaped the society. The people of Qatar were able to intuitively comprehend that the coastline was changing,” he added.
Dr Heggy elaborated how technologies that are being designed to explore water in the solar system benefit from being tested in Earth’s deserts.
He also discuss groundwater evolution in deserts, and how it contributes to changing environmental and societal factors in desert areas.
He concluded with an examination of Qatar’s current changing climate, and how understanding and adapting to it will affect the nation’s growth.
Dr Sohair Wastawy, Executive Director, QNL, said that Dr Heggy will be directing the ‘Science Book Forum’ at QNL in September, an initiative to promote reading and exploring scientific issues among the younger generation.
She further said that a forum of scientific debate on ‘Qatar on Maps’ will be held at the QNL on April 29 at 6pm.
