20th CODATA International Conference

Global Disaster Reduction and the Comprehensive

Scientific System for Disaster Mitigation

Wang Ang-Sheng

The Center of Disaster Reduction, Chinese Academy of Sciences

ABSTRACT

The unusual huge tsunami caused by the 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake has severely affected more than ten countries, including Indonesia and Sri Lanka, resulting in about 300 thousand deaths and much economic loss. From 29 August to 3 September, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit USA which is the strongest country of economy and science-technology in the world, and it’s damages exceeded US$100 billion., and 1417 people were killed by Hurricane Katrina. It shook all World again. In the paper, many huge disasters and statistic data of recent 50 years for major sudden disasters were shown.

Comprehensive Scientific System for Disaster Mitigation is a major modern system for disaster prevention and mitigation which were used in China, USA, Japan and other countries. New advance of the comprehensive system in China will be introduced in this paper. It is all parts；its components；the structures of systems and so on. Comprehensive Scientific System for Disaster Mitigation will be used in more countries, especially in development countries for all kinds of natural sudden disasters.

According to above major sudden disasters and Comprehensive Scientific System for Disaster Mitigation, the strategies adopted by IAP are：To turn the current strategy that is mainly based on “disaster relief” into a strategy mainly based on “disaster prevention”；To suggest to set up a World Disaster Reduction Organization (WDRO) by UN；To suggest to set up primary programs of global comprehensive disaster reduction; etc. in the World.