The nation’s average temperatures have risen 1.5°C over the past century, a joint research project led by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) showed.
In the report to the legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday, the CWA said extreme temperatures would become more common, with fewer spring showers.
Plum rains are expected to become more intense, it said, adding that there would be fewer typhoons affecting Taiwan, but those that do would be stronger and bring more rain.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The agency said it is still developing its next-generation severe weather monitoring system to improve predictions.
The Water Resources Agency (WRA) is also developing a drought warning system that has monitoring stations across the country with a resolution of 1km, it said, adding it would be able to provide drought forecasts one to three months in advance.
There would be new shoreline wind forecasts this typhoon season to assist local governments in deciding when to cancel work and school, the CWA said.
Severe rain forecasts are updated every three hours, and a warning system is also in place to send notifications when flash flooding is likely in mountainous regions, it said.
In related news, the WRA said that a weather front brought 19.08 million cubic meters of precipitation to reservoirs across the nation over the past three days, mainly in northern Taiwan.
From 7am on Friday to 7am yesterday, Sinshan (新山水庫), Shihmen (石門水庫), Feitsui (翡翠水庫) and Baoshan Second (寶二水庫) reservoirs, and Yuanshan Weir (鳶山堰) in the north collected 9.9 million cubic meters of rainwater, with Feitsui Reservoir receiving the most at 3.9 million cubic meters, WRA data showed.
Sinshan was at 92.7 percent capacity yesterday morning, Feitsui was at 75.4 percent, Shihmen was at 28.3 percent and Baoshan Second was at 36.9 percent.
In central Taiwan, Yongheshan (永和山水庫), Mingde (明德水庫), Liyutan (鯉魚潭水庫), Deji (德基水庫), Hushan (湖山水庫), Sun Moon Lake (日月潭水庫) and Wushe (霧社水庫) reservoirs received 8.6 million cubic meters of rainwater, with Deji Reservoir collecting the most at 2.8 million cubic meters.
As of yesterday morning, the Liyutan, Deji and Sun Moon Lake reservoirs were at 33.6 percent, 55 percent and 73.5 percent capacity respectively.
In the south, the Zengwen (曾文水庫), Wushantou (烏山頭水庫) and Nanhua (南化水庫) reservoirs received a total of 500,000 cubic meters of rainwater, and were at 79.1 percent, 43.3 percent and 37.5 percent capacity respectively.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS