Taiwan’s average temperature last year reached 24.6°C, 0.7°C above the historical norm, making it the hottest year on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.
The agency attributed the high temperature to global warming and El Nino.
The CWA’s Annual Climate Report 2024, published on Tuesday last week, showed that all 22 major weather stations across the nation recorded temperatures above the 30-year climate average (based on 1991-2020).
Photo: Taipei Times
Each station ranked among the top 10 hottest years recorded at its respective location. Notably, Hsinchu County, Taichung, Nantou County’s Sun Moon Lake, Tainan, and Taitung County’s Chenggong (成功) and Dawu (大武) townships set temperature records.
The number of hot days — defined as days with highs of more than 35°C — also surged. Taipei recorded 63 hot days, the most in the country and nearly 20 more than the 30-year average. Most other stations, except Keelung, Pengjia Islet (彭佳嶼) off Keelung, Hualien County and Pingtung County’s Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島), also recorded numbers close to or above the average.
The number of hot days in Taiwan has steadily risen since the mid-1970s, while cold days — those with temperatures below 10°C in lowland areas — have declined since the 1960s, highlighting a clear warming trend, the report showed.
Although Taiwan’s total annual rainfall last year was close to the 30-year average, the nation only had 127 rainy days — one of the fewest on record, reflecting a long-term shift toward less frequent, but more intense, precipitation, it said.
Global warming and El Nino have intensified extreme weather events, it said.
Winter last year was warmer and drier than usual due to weaker monsoons, while summer was dominated by strong subtropical high-pressure systems that brought widespread heat and dryness to East Asia.
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