For those planning to spend time outdoors, checking the Ultraviolet Index (UVI) forecast should be just as important as the weather forecast, a group of international experts said yesterday in Taipei.
As outdoor activities and vacations become increasingly popular, experts said the public is not sufficiently aware of the need to protect oneself from overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays.
Researchers and government officials met their counterparts from Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong at the East-Asia Regional UV Symposium on Monitoring and Health Study to discuss ways to monitor UV radiation and forecast the UV index (UVI).
The conference addressed rising concerns about the impact of UV rays on human health, said Liu Chung-ming (柳中明), director of National Taiwan University’s Global Change Research Center (GCRC).
“Ultraviolet rays [are linked to] human skin problems, including cancer,” said South Korean professor Jhoon Kim, of the global environment laboratory at Yonsei University’s atmospheric science department.
Kim’s lab, which began monitoring the ozone layer in the 1980s and UV rays in the 1990s, was early in calling for Seoul to create a monitoring network, he said.
“At the time, [our] government was not aware of the changes in the ozone layer and UV rays,” he said.
Hong Kong, meanwhile, began to monitor the UVI in 1999 and began offering daily UVI forecasts three years ago, said Lee Lap-shun (李立信) of the Hong Kong Observatory.
“Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration teamed up with the GCRC in 1996 and began offering UVI forecasts to the public in 1997. Today, the country has a total of 32 monitoring stations nationwide,” Liu said.
The accuracy of forecasts for “extreme” UVI days is more than 80 percent, experts said.
This is all the more reason for Taiwanese to check UVI forecasts on TV or on the Internet, as “more people are taking up hobbies that involve outdoor activities,” Liu said.
“UV rays on this island are very strong; in the summer, cities in eastern and southern Taiwan may have UVI in the ‘extreme’ category at around noon on 90 percent of days,” Liu said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
Speeding and badly maintained roads were the main causes of a school bus accident on a rainy day in Taipei last year that severely injured two people and left 22 with minor injuries, the Taiwan Transportation and Safety Board said. On March 11 last year, a Kang Chiao International School bus overturned inside the Wenshan Tunnel (文山隧道) on the northbound lane of the Xinyi Expressway. The tour bus, owned by Long Lai Co, exceeded the speed limit after entering the tunnel, the board’s investigation found. Sensing that the rear of the vehicle was swaying, the driver attempted to use the service and exhaust
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President