A recent study by Academia Sinica created a novel method for calculating elevation-dependent climate change-induced temperature shifts, allowing scientists to predict environmental impacts with greater precision.
The research was published in the journal Nature on Wednesday with open public access.
The study said myriad species are not migrating fast enough to survive in the changing climate map, even if global warming is curbed as planned, Biodiversity Research Center fellow Shen Sheng-feng (沈聖峰), who led the research, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei
According to the researcher’s calculations, the isotherm — the boundary line of a temperature zone — is moving upward at 11.67m per year, a rate far higher than previous estimates, he said.
There is a general lack of data on the impact of climate on mountainous regions, where terrain difficulties impede weather station construction and ecological observation, he said.
Study coauthor Chen I-ching (陳一菁), associate professor of life science at National Cheng Kung University, showed in a 2011 study that isotherm shifts outpaced wildlife population’s migration, indicating isotherm calculations were wrong, Sheng said.
The research team utilized satellite data, empirical data on the velocities of species range shifts and modeling based on thermal dynamics to shed light on the relationship between isotherm changes and the vertical relocation speed of species, he said.
The study covered more than 8,600 mountain ranges across 17 regions of the world, including the Yukons in Alaska, the Mediterranean Basin, the Kodar Mountains in Russian Siberia and the Sumatra region in Indonesia, Sheng said.
The accelerated speed of warming shown in the study poses a “severe threat” to the unique species sheltered in the mountains in a troubling sign for the environment, he said.
First author Chen Wei-ping (詹偉平), a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University, said the study revealed that although Taiwan proper’s mountainous regions are warming more slowly than the global average, the isotherm is rising faster than average due to humidity.
This means climate change would have a stronger impact on Taiwan’s ecological conditions than previously thought, he said.
An Academia Sinica spokesperson said that the research blazed a new trail in climate science and also sounded a call to action for governments to jointly protect vulnerable ecosystems in mountain ranges across the world.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS