Dear Sir/Madam,
    We are honored to send you our invitation for the purpose of applying for a new IGCP project related to geohazards.
    In the evolution of the Earth, there coexist both favorable and unfavorable conditions for mankind’s living, for instance, resources and hazards. There is a variety of natural resources, such as sunshine, air, water, soil, minerals, energy and biological resources. Among the large category of hazards, climatic hazards, geohazards and biological hazards are the most common ones. In many occasions, negative effects and hazards are caused by the un-rational exploitation of resources.
    The occurrence of natural hazards is inevitable due to the restriction of the interaction among the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere and is sometimes affected by cosmic factors. Therefore, the study on the mechanism of natural hazards provides an important basis for reducing or avoiding the loss, especially the death toll, caused by hazards by adopting appropriate measures in advance.
    Climatic hazards, geohazards and biological hazards, occurring during the evolution of the Earth, are closely related with one another.
    Regional geohazards, caused by geological events, can be classed into two categories: 1) suddenly occurred hazards, such as volcanic eruption, earthquake, landslide, debris flow, karstic collapse and etc; 2) slowly occurred hazards, such as ground subsidence, rocky desertification and etc.
    There are also a variety of climatic hazards, such as flood, drought, storm and typhoon, the occurrence of which are closely related with waterfall, snowfall as well as thermal fluid, warm current, frost action and melt action.
In Nature, climatic hazards can usually cause geohazards, such as landslide, debris flow, karstic collapse and etc. So we can say that a hazard chain exists between climatic hazards and geohazards. The same is true within geohazards. For instance, on one hand, earthquakes can lead to the occurrence of landslide, debris flow and karstic collapse; and on the other hand, landslide and karstic collapse of large scale can also cause earthquakes in certain circumstances. Thus we can also say that a hazard chain exists between earthquakes and other geohazards.
Within the diversified natural hazard chains, there are several important ones: 1) the hazard chain between climatic hazards and geohazards; 2) the one between earthquakes and other geohazards; 3) the one between biological hazards and geohazards; 4) the one between upper stream and lower stream of rivers; 5) the one between the ocean and land. It is suggested that all these hazard chains are within the research of this new IGCP Project, with the first two being the key research targets.
    Human beings are always the victims of hazards. For instance, during the Indonesia tsunami occurred on December 26, 2004, nearly 300,000 people lost their lives and several countries were affected by this disaster. After the tsunami, observation wells of ground water in more than 20 provinces in China had risen and fallen abruptly with the same effect of earthquakes. One lesson we can draw from Indonesia tsunami is that special phenomenon can occur before or after earthquakes.
    In many cases, human activities are also responsible for the occurrence of geohazards and the loss of lives. Underground constructions, such as tunnels of long distance, underground electronic power stations, subways and mining pit systems have caused a series of hazards, such as land subsidence, collapse, water or gas mass invasion, ground soil and sand intrusion and etc. Since there is no denying the fact that human activities can also lead to the occurrence of hazards, special attention should be paid to the factors that may cause geohazards during human activities.
    Although it is impossible for mankind to prevent the occurrence of geohazards since it is a global event, we, the scientists can carry out joint research on the law of the occurrence of geohazards and try to establish an effective warning system for hazards reduction. As to human activities, it is very important to avoid or reduce their negative effects.
    For the above-mentioned purposes, we would like to apply for a new IGCP project on geohazards and hazards mitigation. And we have already exchanged opinions with relevant officials from the Executive Committee of the International Geosciences Program (IGCP) on the proposed project. It is suggested that the duration of the proposed project be 2008-2011. With the consideration of your expertise in geosciences, engineering, environment and other relevant scientific fields and your contribution to hazards reduction in a certain region or even in the world, we would like to cordially and sincerely invite you to join us in the application for a new IGCP project. We will formulate a project proposal upon receiving your advice and opinions and then submit the proposal to the Executive Board of IGCP for approval.
    The Wenchuan earthquake, which measured at 8.0 magnitude, induced tens of thousands of geological disasters, such as landslides, mud – rock flow and collapses and pitfalls. The big landslides

Thank you very much for your cooperation.
Looking forward to hearing from you very soon,
Sincerely yours,
Academician Lu Yaoru
Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (CAGS); Tongji University
Academician Wang Sijing
Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Tsinghua University

Contact person:
Academician Lu Yaoru
Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (CAGS)
No.26, Baiwanzhuang Road
Beijing 100037
China
Tel: +86-(10)-68999616
Fax: +86-(10)-68310894
E-mail: luyr@cae.cn yrlu@mail.tongji.edu.cn