Taiwan's first attempt to monitor the effects of sandstorms (沙塵暴) on the local environment and on people's health has begun,the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday.
Extremely dry conditions in the deserts of Central Asia and Mongolia trigger sandstorms during the Winter months. In recent years, the occurrence of sandstorms has become more frequent due to successive years of drought and the effects of overgrazing. Although China, South Korea and Japan also feel the effects of storms, the environment and people in Taiwan appear to suffer disproportionately.
According to the EPA, six sandstorms produced measurable effects in Taiwan during 1999 and last year, while seven such storms were recorded this year. When the effects of a sandstorm hit Taiwan, the number of emergency room visits by patients with respiratory diseases rises dramatically.
"Chinese sandstorms negatively impact air quality and human health," said Young Chea-yuan (楊之遠), director general of the EPA's Bureau of Environmental Monitoring and Data Processing.
To alert people to be well prepared, Yang said a comprehensive program funded by the EPA would set up a sandstorm warning system, which will alert residents 24 to 48 hours in advance.
EPA officials say that Chinese sandstorms' strongest influence on the local environment occurs January through May.
Researchers at National Taiwan University and National Central University have been charged with conducting in-depth research and analyzing data collected by satellite, laser radar and air quality monitoring stations.
Liu Gin-rong (劉振榮), professor, Center for Space and Remote Sensing Research at National Central University, said that researchers in Taiwan could easily learn about the formation of a sandstorm in China by analyzing the data collected via satellite.
Meanwhile, Chan Chang-Chuan (詹長權), a public health professor at National Taiwan University, will establish a team to conduct health risk assessments of the sandstorms' influence.
Sandstorms have also drawn the attention of scientific researchers in the US, Japan, South Korea, Russia and France.
"Research results available in other countries have demonstrated that particulate matter suspended in the air is a contributor to cardiac and vascular diseases," Chan said.
Chan said yesterday that more than 30 cardiologists and pediatricians at the National Taiwan University Teaching Hospital (台大醫院) and the Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital (新光醫院) would also take part in the project to measure and analyze the effects of the distant storms on the local environment and population.
The EPA expects to pour up to NT$10 million into the project.
Researchers said that this level of financial support is meager in compared with similar projects carried out in the US.
EPA officials emphasized yesterday that the project does not include the investigation of the impacts of sandstorms on the environment.
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