The acid rain situation nationwide has improved markedly in the past decade, dropping to an incidence rate of about 53 percent during that period, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said yesterday as it announced the results of a 20-year monitoring project.
The EPA said that while acid rain was a rare occurrence in the 1970s, it gradually became more serious in the 1980s, especially in northern parts of the country, as well as near Tainan and Kaohsiung. Acid rain monitoring efforts began in 1990, using pH levels below 5 as a benchmark for acid rain, it said.
Hsieh Yein-Rui (謝燕儒), director-general of the Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control, said there are 12 acid rain monitoring stations scattered across the country, adding that data collected from 1999 through this year showed an average acidity level of pH 5.02.
Instances of acid rain remain more common in the north than in the south, it added.
Peng Chi-Ming (彭啟明), co-organizer of the research project and an assistant professor in atmospheric sciences at National Central University (NCU), said acid rain tended to occur more in the spring and fall when the northeast monsoon brings air that is laden with particulates.
The area surrounding Jhongli (中壢), Taoyuan County, has the worst acid rain problem in the nation, with an incidence rate of 75 percent.
About 100 percent of the rain that fell in that area during winter was acid rain, Peng said.
The two principal causes of acid rain in Taiwan are polluted air from abroad — mainly China — and local pollution, said Lin Neng-huei (林能暉), co-organizer of the project and professor of atmospheric sciences at NCU, adding that the two were equally responsible.
However, fog can be more acidic than rain because it contains less water and a higher density of acidic substances, Peng said.
A lot of people fear that being exposed to acid rain will cause baldness, Peng said.
“Actually, getting rained on by acid rain is more of a long-term problem ... if you are exposed to it every day, then eventually it can cause some harm,” Peng said.
Hsieh said the EPA would continue to enforce regulations to control air pollution, as well as communicate with China on the technical aspects of controlling the problem.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS