The air quality over the weekend is forecast to reach harmful levels, as strong northeasterly winds are to carry pollutants from China, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday, advising people to avoid outdoor activities.
The warning came on the eve of several large activities in Taipei, including Academia Sinica’s annual open house event with more than 300 scientific activities on the campus and the annual LGBTQ parade that is to start on Ketagalan Boulevard.
Of the nation’s 77 air-quality monitoring stations, 25 displayed “orange” warnings of unhealthy conditions for sensitive groups as of 5pm yesterday, mostly in central and southern regions, as well as Kinmen and Lienchiang counties, EPA data showed.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
However, air quality across the nation might worsen with autumn’s first smog from China forecast to affect the nation tomorrow, the agency said.
The hourly concentrations of PM2.5 — inhalable particles measuring 2.5 micrometers or less — might reach between 40 and 60 micrograms per cubic meter tomorrow, causing monitoring stations to display “orange” or “red” warnings, with the latter meaning conditions are unhealthy for all groups, the agency said.
If the smog moves southward as predicted, central and southern Taiwan might have poorer air quality from tomorrow afternoon, when strong winds could raise dust from plains and riverbeds, causing local PM10 concentrations to rise, EPA Department of Environmental Monitoring and Information Management Director-General Chang Shuenn-chin (張順欽) said.
Wind speeds in coastal regions might reach 10 meters per second with northeasterly monsoon winds and Typhoon Yutu approaching, Chang said, adding that dust pollution in central and southern regions might last until Wednesday next week.
To mitigate the effects of air pollution, the EPA has ordered Taiwan Power Co (台電) to curtail emissions at its coal-fired Taichung Power Plant and Kaohsiung’s Sinda Power Plant for the next few days, while large factories, construction sites and restaurants are required to cut pollution as necessary.
Sensitive groups, such as elderly people and children, should avoid outdoor activities, and if that is not possible, they are advised to wear masks, the EPA said.
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
NATURAL INTERRUPTION: As cables deteriorate, core wires snap in progression along the cable, which does not happen if they are hit by an anchor, an official said Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) immediately switched to a microwave backup system to maintain communications between Taiwan proper and Lienchiang County (Matsu) after two undersea cables malfunctioned due to natural deterioration, the Ministry of Digital Affairs told an emergency news conference yesterday morning. Two submarine cables connecting Taiwan proper and the outlying county — the No. 2 and No. 3 Taiwan-Matsu cables — were disconnected early yesterday morning and on Wednesday last week respectively, the nation’s largest telecom said. “After receiving the report that the No. 2 cable had failed, the ministry asked Chunghwa Telecom to immediately activate a microwave backup system, with
RSS