The results of an Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) study, announced on Tuesday, that measured airborne pollutants and greenhouse gas concentrations on the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea showed an increase in the severity of the problem.
The research was undertaken in conjunction with the US’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and NASA, which have been carrying out a survey to measure air quality in southeastern Asia since 2009.
Carbon dioxide concentrations on the Pratas Islands and the surrounding waters have been at more than 400 parts per million (ppm) since last year and are expected to increase, the research found.
“There is no going back over greenhouse gas accumulation for the Pratas Islands and the Spratly Islands [Nansha Islands, 南沙群島],” the Environmental Monitoring and Information Management Director-General Tsai Hung-te (蔡鴻德) said, adding that global carbon dioxide levels were about 200ppm before the Industrial Revolution.
Taiwan and Hong Kong, recorded carbon dioxide levels of 430ppm, the highest in the region, which could be caused by industrial activity in southern China, Tsai said.
The heightened levels of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, in the South China Sea could be attributed to forest fires resulting from slash-and-burn practices in Southeast Asian nations, principally Indonesia, Tsai said.
The burning of biomass and industrial activities in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and other countries have contributed to the formation of the Asian brown cloud — a layer of air pollutants that covers parts of Southeast Asia, he said.
The Asian brown cloud could affect Taiwan, especially during a dry winter, when the Westerlies and northeastern monsoon are prevalent, while the nation should be less affected during summer and spring, as moisture should dilute pollutants, he said.
Concentration of aerosol — the composite of airborne pollutants — above the Pratas Islands has increased over the years, suggesting more air pollutants of the Southeast Asian haze have accumulated in the area, which could be further exacerbated by the El Nino effect that has caused dry weather in the region this year, the administration’s program researcher Ouyang Chang-feng (歐陽長風) said.
The administration said its calucations using a computational model estimate that transboundary pollutants account for about 30 percent of the total air pollutants in the nation.
The monitoring program could be used to ascertain the accuracy of this estimate by identifying the sources of pollutants with samples collected in the South China Sea, so the administration could adjust its pollution control policy afterward, it said.
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