Taiwan ranks seventh among nations most severely affected by climate change, said an annual report released on Thursday at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany.
The report was published by Germanwatch, a non-profit, non-governmental development and environmental organization that lobbies for sustainable global development.
The report, titled Global Climate Risk Index 2018, analyzed the extent to which nations have been affected by weather-related events such as storms, flooding and heat waves.
It used data gathered from 1997 to last year.
In January last year, Taiwan was hit by a rare wave of low temperatures, followed by six tropical storms and typhoons later in the year, Germanwatch said.
The surge in Taiwan’s ranking from 51st last year underscores the vulnerability of small island states and poor countries when facing extreme events, Germanwatch said.
Taiwan was called “Chinese Taipei” in the ranking.
The top six most-affected nations were Haiti, Zimbabwe, Fiji, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and India.
Since 1997, more than 520,000 people have been killed by more than 11,000 extreme weather events around the world, it said.
Data show that extreme weather events have become more frequent and severe due to climate change, coauthor David Eckstein said, citing Fiji’s worst hurricane in a century and severe flooding in Germany last year as examples.
The 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change began on Monday last week and is to conclude on Friday.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man plowed his car into pedestrians exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. Footage showing bodies lying on the pavement appeared on social media in the hours after the crash, but had vanished by early Tuesday morning, and local police reported only “injuries.” It took officials nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died — in one of the country’s deadliest incidents in years. China heavily monitors social media platforms, where it is common for words and topics deemed
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
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