Poor air quality was recorded in parts of southern Taiwan and outlying Kinmen County early yesterday, as a cold front brought high concentrations of pollutants from China, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said.
At various times yesterday morning, the EPA’s air quality index flashed “red” in Chiayi City, Tainan and Kinmen County, indicating “unhealthy” levels of air pollution, it said.
Parts of Changhua County, Chiayi County and Kaohsiung were flashing “orange” on the index, signaling unhealthy air quality for sensitive groups, it said.
Photo: CNA
In other parts of the county, the air quality readings ranged from “moderate” to “good,” the EPA said.
The poor air quality has been caused by strengthening northeasterly winds, which has brought PM2.5 pollutants — fine particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometers or smaller — with a concentration of 80 to 120 micrograms per cubic meter across the Taiwan Strait from China, the EPA said.
In Tainan, where residents yesterday reported smog and low visibility, city officials said the air quality was not expected to improve until this afternoon.
The EPA has forecast that from tomorrow through Thursday, wind conditions in areas north of Hsinchu would be ideal for dispersing the incoming pollutants.
However, in downwind locations in central and southern Taiwan, the pollutants could linger during that period, the agency said.
The air quality might be especially bad in coastal areas from Changhua County to Tainan, due to dust being picked up by strong winds, it said.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do
RSS