Greenpeace yesterday urged the Ministry of Environment to include children and teenagers in climate adaptation programs, and invest more funding to protect them against heat injuries during outdoor activities.
Wu Chi (吳際), a sixth-grade student of Ci-Xin Waldorf Elementary School in Yilan County’s Dongshan Township (冬山), yesterday presented an open letter to the ministry’s Climate Change Administration Director-General Tsai Ling-yi (蔡玲儀) to call for attention to the impact of climate change on future generations.
He has been a volunteer for cigarette butt and second-hand clothes recycling at the Society of Wilderness for three years.
Photo: Huang Yi-ching, Taipei Times
“I hope the government would be aware of the right of the child to be heard and let children have a say at the Presidential Office’s National Climate Change Committee, because the consequences of climate change are to be borne by our generation,” Wu said.
Citing a research report titled The “Heatwaived” Childhood, Greenpeace East Asia climate and energy director Hsin Yi (忻儀) said none of the total budget of more than NT$400 billion (US$12.7 billion) under the National Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan was allocated for promoting heat adaptation in adolescents.
The research was conducted by Greenpeace East Asia along with Yang Hsin-ju (楊馨茹), deputy director of the Sustainable Environment and Technology Application Research Center at Tainan University of Technology.
It collected data on health risk indicators like ultra-violet index, wet-bulb globe temperatures, and surface temperatures of paving and playground equipment at a total of 16 parks across eight administrative areas — Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Hsinchu county and city — between 9am and 5pm from June to August.
Yang said the 16 parks were all newly built, but their shade facilities were insufficient, with significantly high ultraviolet levels identified at New Taipei Metropolitan Park (新北大都會公園) and Kaohsiung’s Luyuandao Park (綠園道公園).
Nine of the 16 parks exposed playing children to the risk of heat injuries all day long, which is defined as existing when the wet-bulb globe temperature is above 29°C, she said.
Surface temperatures of paving and playground equipment at the 16 parks were measured using infrared cameras and were all found to exceed 48°C at their highest, Yang said.
For example, rubber floor mats at Taipei’s Daan Forest Park (大安森林公園) became as hot as 74.1°C, while synthetic turf at Tainan’s Renan Park (人安公園) went up to 81.6°C, she said.
That means children could receive burn injuries if they play while exposed to such high temperatures, Yang said.
Temperatures collected by existing regional weather stations are not enough to anticipate heat-related risks, as they were far lower than the actual data measured at the parks, she said.
Therefore, the government should set up microclimate monitoring stations at parks to inform children of when it is suitable to play, as well as enhance urban disaster prevention, she added.
Taiwan Statebuilding Party Secretary-General Wu Hsin-tai (吳欣岱), who is also a cardiac surgeon, said children’s body temperatures rise faster than adults in hot weather.
Children can be left with long-term health problems after being exposed to heat, as they are more vulnerable than adults in terms of body heat regulation and cardiorespiratory endurance, she said.
In response, Tsai said Taiwan is dedicated to carbon reduction alongside global partners and would step up interagency cooperation to minimize the impact of climate change on younger generations.
The Ministry of Finance this afternoon announced the winning numbers for the March-April uniform invoice lottery. The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$318,060) special prize is 19531471, and the winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 85941329. Three numbers were drawn for the NT$200,000 first prize: 07225810, 20231230 and 83518781. Those with receipts matching the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers will win the NT$40,000 second prize, while those matching the last six digits will win the NT$10,000 third prize. Those whose receipts match the last five digits of the first-prize numbers can claim the NT$4,000 fourth prize,
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