A public science exhibition about typhoons opened at the National Taiwan Science Education Center in Taipei City yesterday, displaying scientific experiment devices, to educate the public about typhoon formation and disaster prevention.
The exhibition, Typhoon is Coming, displays nine hands-on devices used in experiments from the Japan Science Society for the public to observe the scientific principles behind the formulation of clouds, air flow in a vortex, the thermal siphon effect on the sea surface caused by low pressure at the center of typhoons, the changes in wave length caused by blowing winds and other weather phenomena.
Typhoon observation methods are also explained, including traditional surface monitoring on ships and buoys, as well as the use of meteorological satellites, radar and the Aerosonde — a small, unmanned aerial vehicle designed to collect weather data.
The center said weather disasters cost up to tens of billions of New Taiwan dollars in damage annually and about 70 percent of them are caused by typhoons.
“Most people think typhoons only form in the summer or autumn and often neglect winter typhoons,” National Taiwan Science Education Center director Chu Nan-shyan (朱楠賢) said. “However, according to the latest reports, Tropical Storm Washi, which formed on Friday last week and swept over the Philippines, led to the death toll of about 1,080 people [the death toll has since increased past 2,000].”
Chu urged the public to learn more about typhoons and how to minimize typhoon disasters by visiting the exhibition.
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