People should protect themselves from potential harm caused by ultraviolet (UV) rays as the nation enters the summer season, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday.
According to the farmer’s almanac, the summer solstice, or xiazhi (夏至) in Mandarin, is to begin today, marking the official start of summer.
Statistics from the EPA showed that, on average, 68 percent of the days in July have a UV index exceeding 11, which is rated as “dangerous” on the UV index scale.
With such a high UV index, people could get sunburned if they are exposed to the sun for only 15 to 20 minutes, the EPA said.
The statistics also showed that 50 percent of the days between May and August have UV indexes greater than eight.
The EPA also advised people to avoid exposure to the sun between 10am and 2pm, when the radiation from the UV rays is the strongest.
Meanwhile, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said the daytime temperature reached 33°C nationwide yesterday.
The highest temperature was 33.8°C in Taipei, 32.6°C in Taichung, 33.9°C in Chiayi and 33.2°C in Tainan.
A foehn wind occurred at 12:37pm in Taitung, with the high temperature reaching 36.2°C.
A foehn wind is a type of warm, dry wind that blows down the side of a mountain range.
Yesterday’s foehn wind was the fourth one in Taitung in the past five days.
CWB forecaster Lin Chi-hui (林智暉) said today’s daytime temperature could still hit 33°C nationwide.
“Chances of afternoon showers are high in the north,” Lin said. “The rain in the mountainous areas could be heavier than over the plains.”
Starting on Wednesday, afternoon showers may occur in the south and a frontal system will approach the nation, Lin added.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
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BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
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