Though most know volcanoes as a source of immense destruction, these vents between the Earth’s interior and exterior, on the other hand, also offer a multitude of beneficial purposes on our planet, from expelling gases that make up Earth’s atmosphere and biosphere to providing natural resources and driving the economy. With their heavily integrated relationship with humans, volcanism, a process that has been active since Earth’s formation and even extends to other planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, is a significant factor in the origins and evolution of life.
This will be the subject of a lecture given by Dr Cin-Ty Lee, Professor and Chair of the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at Rice University, at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) next week (Tuesday, October 2nd at 6:30 PM). The talk, entitled “Volcanoes, Life and Energy,” is one in the museum’s regular lecture series. Lee will give a preview of his discussion in a live interview via Facebook video the day prior (Monday, October 1st at 4 PM CST). With Lee’s talk broaching the subject, this eruptive theme will continue with a showing of the film “Volcanoes: The Fires of Creation” later in the month.
If you are local to Houston and would like to attend the Tuesday night talk to hear Lee discuss how one of Earth’s natural disasters is actually incredibly important for life, please purchase tickets through the HMNS here.
Keep an eye on our Twitter account (@CLEVER_Planets) for the link to the Monday evening Facebook Live video, which you can watch anywhere. Update here’s the video!