Taiwan is under very high risks of natural hazards due to its unique location at the collision zone of between two tectonic plates, and central to the Asian monsoon system, and natural hazards have caused fatalities and social-economic loss in the past. The rapid population growth and mass land development have reduced the size natural buffer zones which brings critical challenges to the country. Taiwan is in line with global trends of research and development in disaster prevention. Scientists actively develop integrated interdisciplinary technologies in disaster prevention, use information technology to establish high-speed mechanisms for data transmission, and establish transnational hazard information system to assist the decision-making process to facilitate disaster management.
2019 is the 60th anniversary of the devastating flood in 1959, the 20th anniversary of the 1999 Jiji earthquake, and the 10th anniversary of Typhoon Morakot. Chinese Geoscience Union connects societies, departments, research institutes, and government agencies related to geoscience to organize the 2019 Taiwan Geosciences Assembly (2019 TGA). The scientific issues of 2019 TGA include “integrated disaster education and sharing,” “transnational collaboration on observation technology,” “interdisciplinary research and decision-making support,” and “environmental conservation, disaster prevention, and sustainability” under the theme “interdisciplinary research, environmental conservation, intelligent disaster prevention, and sustainability for future generations.” The ultimate goal is to call for government agencies and people’s attention to land planning, disaster management, and environmental change to achieve the aim of sustainable management of our homeland.
With the generous support from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), 2019 TGA is held at Hall 1, Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center on May 14 to 17, 2019. It consisted of 14 meetings/forums and about 2,000 local and international experts, researchers, and graduate students attend this event. 2019 TGA has invited Dr. Pao-Kuan Wang, Distinguished Research Fellow & Director of Research Center for Environmental Changes, Academia Sinica and Prof. Jann-Yenq Liu, director of National Central University Center for Astronautical Physics and Engineering to give keynote speeches at the opening ceremony at 1 pm, May 14. FORMOSAT-7, developed by the National Space Organization of the National Applied Research Laboratory and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has scheduled to launch on June 22, 2019. As a new chapter of Taiwan’s space technology, FORMOSAT-7 will enhance the precision of weather observation in the future. Prof. Liu will discuss this scientific issue in his speech.
Human activities have created unprecedented impacts on the Earth System on a very short geological timescale, scientists coined “Anthropocene” to refer to a new geological epoch shaped by anthropogenic causes. National Taiwan University Research Center for Future Earth, a center supported by the Ministry of Education’s Featured Areas Research Center Program, Higher Education Sprout Project, organizes the first “Conference on Pan-Pacific Anthropocene” (ConPPA) to promote the research capacity in sustainability science in Taiwan and Asia-Pacific region. The Central Weather Bureau also organizes “2019 Conference of Weather Analysis and Forecast” that focuses on the application of weather information on the social-economic sphere to address the impact of climate change.
In addition to scientific meetings, National Space Organization of the National Applied Research Laboratory, National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction, the Space Science Society of the Republic of China, Science On a Sphere (SOS), and the Department of Earth Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University provide exhibitions at the “Popular Science Area” (5F). 2019 is also the 10th anniversary of Belmont Forum, an international platform for scientific collaboration. MOST Belmont Forum Program Office hosts a Belmont Forum Information Session on the 15th. Please visit the 2019 TGA website and 2019 TGA Facebook for more information.
