Air quality in most parts of the nation yesterday reached dangerous levels due to a sandstorm in China, but is forecast to improve in northern and central regions today, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said.
The agency on Tuesday issued the season’s first sandstorm warning after the storm formed in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region the previous day.
The sandstorm caused the hourly concentration of PM10 — particulate matter with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less — to reach 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter in the region, while its effects were also felt across Taiwan from yesterday morning due to a northeasterly monsoon, it said.
As of 5am, hourly PM10 levels in Taiwan’s northernmost air quality monitoring station in New Taipei City’s Fuguijiao (富貴角) had risen to 256 micrograms per cubic meter, with levels of PM2.5 — particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less — reaching 95 micrograms per cubic meter, EPA data showed.
In northern and northwestern Taiwan, PM10 levels reached 180 to 230 micrograms per cubic meter, while PM2.5 levels reached 60 to 75 micrograms per cubic meter, the data showed.
The average 24-hour PM10 and PM2.5 levels recommended by the WHO in 2005 were 50 and 25 micrograms per cubic meter respectively.
Prolonged exposure to the pollutants might increase a person’s risk of cardiopulmonary disease, the WHO said.
As of 10am, the local governments in Taipei, Hsinchu City and Pingtung County had activated emergency centers to tackle air pollution, mainly by checking for illegal outdoor burning, reducing mobile sources of pollution and washing the streets, the EPA said.
As part of its collaborative efforts with the EPA, Taiwan Power Co (台電) reduced power generation at the oil-burning Siehe Power Plant in New Taipei City, and the coal-fired Taichung and Singda power plants in Taichung and Kaohsiung respectively, lowering the amount of daily pollution created by the nation’s power plants by 35.6 percent, it said.
While air quality in northern and central regions is expected to improve, it might remain poor in the south today and tomorrow, as amassed pollutants are difficult to disperse under local geographical and atmospheric conditions, the EPA said.
Residents of Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties, which are to the east of the Central Mountain Range, were relatively unaffected by the spike in air pollutants, it said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS