The central government should beware of the negative effects of fewer days with light rains, a top Central Weather Bureau (CWB) official said yesterday.
Weather Forecast Center Director Cheng Ming-dean (鄭明典) wrote on Facebook that saturated moist air would increase by 7 percent if the average global temperature rises by 1?C.
The increase in humidity would cause strong convections to occur in certain zones, with longer duration of rainfall, he said.
However, the phenomenon would also enlarge the area for dry land, making the dry season last longer than normal, he said.
Cheng said that uneven rainfall would pose a challenge to the appropriation of water resources, because it would be more difficult to predict rainfall amounts and duration.
The nation’s reservoirs would not be able to store all the water that falls even if there is pouring rain, he said.
However, even if light rain does not contribute much to the increase of overall rainfall, it does help the agricultural sector as well as the overall ecosystem, Cheng said, adding that the phenomenon deserves close, long-term observation.
In other developments, the bureau’s forecaster said that the rain on the west coast would ease today with the arrival of a cold air mass from the north, with a chance of isolated showers on the east coast.
The bureau said that the lowest temperature would occur on early tomorrow morning, with the mercury falling to 12?C in the north.
The cold air mass is expected to weaken on Wednesday, with daytime temperatures likely to be more than 24?C.
Between Thursday and Saturday, high temperature are set to reach 30?C and above, with showers forecast for Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as mountainous areas on the west coast, the forecasters said.
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