Summers could last seven months if emissions continue unchecked, while sea level rise would most heavily impact Yunlin County, Tainan and Keelung, according to a national climate change report released on Wednesday.
This year’s National Climate Change Scientific Report was edited by Academia Sinica Research Center for Environmental Changes researcher Hsu Huang-hsiung (許晃雄) and National Central University ocean sciences professor Li Ming-hsu (李明旭).
The approximately 600-page report is the result of a year and a half of research focused on mitigating climate risks, the researchers told a news conference.
Photo: CNA
Previous versions were released in 2011 and 2017.
If emissions continue to increase at the current rate, Taiwan’s summers could last as long as seven months, with temperatures exceeding 36°C for 75 more days per year, the report says.
A 2°C increase would see about 4.3 percent more land in Yunlin County submerged by rising sea levels, to 3.3 percent in Tainan and 2.3 percent in Keelung, it says.
Rising sea temperatures would also affect aquaculture. For example, an increase of only 1°C would reduce squid yield by 15 percent, while clams would be heavily impacted by within 2°C of warming, the report says.
Rice production would decrease by 13 percent by mid-century and 18 percent by the end of the century, while corn production would fall by 10 and 17 percent respectively, the researchers said.
Although fewer days will see rain, heavy downpours would become the norm on days that do see rainfall, worsening drought conditions especially in the springtime, they said.
Typhoons would also become less frequent, but more intense, they added.
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