Taiwan had the 45th-highest average annual PM2.5 concentration among 134 countries, territories and regions rated last year, according to the 2023 World Air Quality Report published by IQAir on Tuesday.
Recording an average concentration of 20.2 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m3), Taiwan performed better than China (32.5mg/m3) and Mongolia (22.5mg/m3), but lagged behind South Korea (19.2mg/m3), Hong Kong (15.6mg/m3) and Japan (9.6mg/m3) in East Asia, according to the report’s Swiss publisher.
The most polluted countries were Bangladesh (79.9mg/m3), Pakistan (73.7mg/m3), India (54.4mg/m3), Tajikistan (49mg/m3) and Burkina Faso (46.6mg/m3).
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
Only Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius and New Zealand have met the WHO’s annual guideline of 5 mg/m3 or less, the report said.
In terms of cities and locations, the highest average annual concentration of PM2.5 in Taiwan lies in Changhua County (24.5mg/m3), Tainan (20.9mg/m3) and Pingtung County’s Donggang Township (東港, 20.7mg/m3), according to IQAir.
Taiwan’s data were collected from 48 Ministry of Environment air quality stations and five individual contributors providing observations from six stations, IQAir said.
PM2.5 is particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or smaller. Such particulate matter is a key component of air pollution and a known cause of many health issues, including cardiovascular and neurological diseases, the report said.
Department of Atmospheric Environment head Chang Shun-chin (張順欽) on Wednesday said that the air quality in different parts of Taiwan results from complex factors such as geology and seasonal winds.
For example, flying dust in the Jhuoshuei River region plays an important role in the local air quality. Pollutants often drift to northern Taiwan with the seasonal northeasterly winds in winter, while in April and May, ozone pollution is higher in the north due to the southerly winds, Chang said.
The ministry is conducting the second phase of the air pollution control action plan and ramping up efforts to reduce air pollution in central and southern Taiwan, Chang said.
Major pollution sources, including the Taichung Power Plant, other power plants and steel factories, have been required to redouble efforts to reduce emissions, Cheng said.
Local governments have also been required to provide related plans according to each region’s situation, Chang added.
The ministry said that IQAir was a private company that manufactures air purifying products, with much of its data from private contributors and unclear locations, which might not reflect reality.
For example, the report said that Taiwan’s average PM2.5 concentration in 2022 was 13.4mg/m3 and rose 50 percent to 20.2mg/m3. However, the ministry said that data it compiled showed that the average concentration was 12.4mg/m3 in 2022 and only rose 11.3 percent to 13.7mg/m3.
The Changhua County Environmental Protection Bureau also issued a statement yesterday, echoing similar sentiments.
The ministry’s data showed that the county’s average annual PM2.5 concentration was 16.4mg/m3, not 24.5mg/m3 as the report showed, the bureau said.
Moreover, the county’s air quality has been improving, with the improvement between 2018 and last year being in the top five in the country, it added.
The 2023 World Air Quality Report was IQAir’s sixth annual report. More than 30,000 air quality monitoring stations across 7,812 locations internationally were collected and subsequently analyzed by IQAir’s air quality scientists, IQAir said.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS