2017 Essay Contest Finalist

Entry by Hannah Shin

Preventing Natural Disasters With Geoscience

Earth, home sweet home. Our majestic planet with its stunning landforms, striking geology, and intriguing phenomena holds over 7 billion people, shaping their lives every day. The ground we live upon, the part of Earth we dwell in, is so significant that it defines everything we do.

Louis Agassiz, an American-Swiss geologist, once stated, “The world is the geologist’s great puzzle-box …. till he detects their relation and sees where they fit, and then his fragments grow at once into a connected picture….” Geoscience is an immense field with numerous subcategories, but the goal is one: formulating “connected pictures” to predict Mother Nature’s plans and use this information to better many lives.

Geoscience is essential in managing challenges, especially natural disasters. Whether there be a terrifying tornado or an enormous earthquake, scientists lessen crises through prediction and preparation. Harnessing the power of incredible machinery and complex techniques, such as mapping, fractal, and geospatial technologies, we prepare many for the hardships to come. Not only does geoscience help us predict natural disasters, but it also plays a key role in widening our spectrum of opportunities.

There are numerous ways to incorporate geoscience to improve lives through fighting natural disasters. For example, understanding differences in categories of seismic waves of earthquakes can lead to development of stronger sensory mechanisms for efficient detection. For hurricanes, knowledge of formation of such hurricanes and their ratings on the Saffir-Simpson scale may result in creation of a machine to precisely predict where and when hurricanes will hit.

Ultimately, Earth is the main source of inspiration for problem-solving, and natural disasters are some of the world’s biggest problems. What better way is there to eliminate this issue than geoscience? When we apply geoscience, we predict and prevent numerous natural disasters, keeping Earth our “home sweet home”.