New research suggests that air pollution indirectly reduces the amount of rainfall in northern Taiwan during autumn, which might have exacerbated the water shortage at New Taipei City’s Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫).
Researchers from National Central University (NCU) and the State University of New York at Albany analyzed 13 years of satellite and surface data for the study, which was published on March 23 in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.
Taiwan receives most of its annual rainfall from May to September during the plum rain and typhoon seasons, NCU Department of Atmospheric Sciences associate professor Wang Sheng-hsiang (王聖翔) said.
Photo courtesy of National Central University
Although there is relatively less rainfall during fall and winter, it is key to maintaining reservoir levels, Wang said.
However, it is also when pollution tends to be most severe, which not only affects health, but can also affect the characteristics of rain droplets, he added.
Researchers analyzed data from 2005 to 2017 on concentrations of PM2.5 — airborne particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers — meteorological parameters, such as wind direction and temperature, raindrop size, aerosols and cloud properties, to determine the effect that aerosols might have on clouds and drizzle during autumn over northern Taiwan.
They found that in the densely industrialized northwest, the season is mainly dominated by warm, thin and broken clouds, which are defined as having an internal temperature of at least 0°C.
Aerosols were discovered to have an indirect effect on the clouds, meaning that as aerosol concentrations rose, cloud droplets became smaller and more numerous, with drizzles occurring less frequently.
The data also reflected this, as “polluted” days saw about 6.8mm less daily average rainfall than “clean” days, with polluted days defined as the 80th percentile of daily average PM2.5, while clean days fell in the 20th percentile.
Lead author of the study, Chen Ying-chieh (陳映潔), obtained a graduate degree from NCU’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences.
As a graduate student, she was in the first cohort of the US-Taiwan Partnership for International Research and Education (PIRE), which sent her on a two-month exchange to the US.
PIRE is run by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the US National Science Foundation through NCU and the State University of New York at Albany. The program aims to promote research collaboration on weather and climate prediction, and emergency response strategies.
‘UNFRIENDLY’: Changing the nationality listing of Taiwanese residents to ‘China’ goes against EU foreign policy as well as democratic and human rights principles, MOFA said Taiwan yesterday called on Denmark to correct its designation of the nationality of Taiwanese residents as “China” or face retaliatory measures. The Danish government in 2024 changed the nationality of Taiwanese citizens on their residence permits from “Taiwan” to “China.” The decision goes against EU foreign policy and contravenes democratic and human rights principles, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said. Denmark should present a solution acceptable to Taiwan as soon as possible and correct the erroneous designation to preserve the longstanding friendship between the two nations, Hsiao said. The issue could damage Denmark’s image and business reputation in Taiwan,
KEY INDUSTRY: The vice premier discussed a plan to create a non-red drone supply chain by next year, which has been allocated a budget of more than NT$7.2 billion The government has budgeted NT$44.2 billion (US$1.38 billion) to cultivate Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) industry over the next five years, which would make the nation a major player in the industry’s democratic supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Cho made the remarks during a visit to the facilities of Cub Elecparts Inc (為升電裝). Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝依鳳) also participated in the trip. Cub Elecparts has transitioned from the automotive industry to the defense industry, which is the top priority among the nation’s
SOUTH KOREA DISPUTE: If Seoul continues to ignore its request, Taiwan would change South Korea’s designation on its arrival cards, the foreign ministry said If South Korea does not reply appropriately to a request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, the government would take corresponding measures to change how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. Taipei has asked Seoul to change the wording. Since March 1, South Koreans who hold government-issued Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) have been identified as from “South Korea” rather than the “Republic of Korea,” the
SUFFICIENT: The president said Taiwan has enough oil for next month, with reserves covering more than 100 days and natural gas enough for 12 to 14 days A restart plan for the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) and the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春) would be submitted to the Nuclear Safety Commission by the end of the month, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, reversing the government’s policy to abolish nuclear energy. On May 17 last year, Taiwan shut down its last nuclear reactor and became the first non-nuclear nation in East Asia, fulfilling the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s pledge of a “nuclear-free homeland.” Even without nuclear power, Taiwan can maintain a stable electricity supply until 2032,
RSS