A group of weather experts are pushing for the government to establish a heat index and warning system to protect people against excessive heat.
Commonly used in other regions such as the US and Europe, a heat index estimates the temperature that human bodies actually feel by factoring in both air temperature and relative humidity.
The index can help people better gauge their surroundings and take precautionary measures based on their health conditions, said Young Chea-yuan (楊之遠), a natural resources professor at Chinese Culture University.
Young said that given the number of heat-induced deaths that occur in Taiwan every year, heat waves could pose a bigger threat than typhoons.
He accused the government of ignoring the risks posed by heat waves.
“I haven’t seen the slightest effort from the government to coordinate weather bureau and health authorities to address the issue,” he said. “The heat will only get worse as global warming continues.”
He said the government could learn from countries such as the US, China and Japan, which have set up comprehensive heat advisory systems.
Weather Risk Explore Inc chief executive Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) said a heat index could have ramifications across society. For instance, employers could adjust work hours on excessively hot days, or workers could extend their break time at noon and make up for the time either earlier or later in the day.
The Central Weather Bureau said it had been consulting experts about developing a heat warning system since last year.
Because Taiwan has a less extreme tropical climate, more tests are needed for the bureau to identify the effect of heat on human bodies, the bureau’s forecast center director Cheng Ming-dean (鄭明典) said.
Cheng added that based on preliminary discussions, the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, a composite temperature model used to estimate the effect of temperature, humidity and wind speed on human bodies, might work in Taiwan.
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