The government may have to deal with more water shortages as Taiwan’s climate has become “bipolar,” academics said yesterday.
Chou Chia (周佳), a research fellow at Academia Sinica, said that as global warming alters climate patterns, people can expect more rain in the rainy season and less during the dry season.
“In the areas of Asia affected by the monsoon, which include Taiwan, the weather has become bipolar,” Chou said. “The phenomenon has become more obvious in central and southern parts of the country, including Yunlin, Chiayi and Tainan counties.”
The news came two days after the Water Resources Agency announced a plan to further restrict water usage at swimming pools and other locations in central Taiwan if the water situation does not improve by the end of next month.
Chou said annual rainfall had not changed much in the past 30 years, with the nation receiving an average of 2,600mm. However, the distribution of rainfall was uneven. While severe rainfall led to floods in some areas, others were hit by drought.
Rainfall intensity is estimated to increase about 15 percent in the rainy season by the end of the century, but the chances of droughts were also higher, he said. The Greater Kaohsiung area, for example, would not have received even half the normal annual rainfall for 2009 had it not been for the torrential rain brought by Typhoon Morakot.
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taipei placed 14th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student Cities 2026 list, its highest ever, according to results released yesterday. With an overall score of 89.1, the city climbed 12 places from the previous year, surpassing its previous best ranking of 17th in 2019. Taipei is “one of Asia’s leading higher-education hubs,” with strong employer activity scores and students “enjoying their experience of the city and often keen to stay after graduation,” a QS staff writer said. In addition to Taipei, Hsinchu (71st), Tainan (92nd), Taichung (113th) and Taoyuan (130th) also made QS’ list of the top 150 student cities. Hsinchu showed the
Environmental groups yesterday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung. The appeal was filed jointly by the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and the Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association, which together held a news conference outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei. Explaining the reasons for the appeal, Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group said that the EIA failed to address