Climate change is real, and it has increased the global average temperature by as much as 1°C. In Taiwan, the increase is more pronounced at 1.4°C.

Taipei City, being located in a basin and forming an urban heat island, is suffering noticeably from higher temperatures and more extreme weather.

Recently, biologists and meteorologists have come forth to demand that the government come up with actionable policies to combat climate change. Air Clean Taiwan (台灣健康空氣行動聯盟), a grassroots environmental organization, is calling for the government to perform “climate triage” and initiate plans to relocate the capital.  

Estimated sea level around Taipei City and New Taipei City if temperatures rise by 2°C. (Source: Surging Seas)

The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that global warming is likely to reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052 if temperatures continue to climb at the current rate. Taiwanese researchers have found that the effects will be worse in Taiwan.

Professor C.H. Wang (汪中和), a researcher at the Institute of Earth Sciences at Academia Sinica (中研院地球科學研究所), says the latest findings show that while the global average temperature has risen by 1°C, and the temperature in Taiwan has risen by 1.4°C, the increase in Taipei is as high as 1.7°C. This is because Taipei is an overdeveloped metropolis that’s formed an urban heat island in a basin, which aggravates the situation.

Based on these findings, Wang estimates if the global temperature rises by 1.5°C in 2030, the temperature in Taipei will rise by 2°C.

Celebrity meteorologist C. M. Peng (彭啟明), founder of WeatherRisk Explore Inc. (天氣風險管理開發公司), points out that rising temperatures will increase the frequency of rainstorms. It’s already been observed that afternoon thunderstorms are becoming more and more severe in Taipei. Climate change will also increase the strength of typhoons. While the number of typhoons fluctuates from year to year, the current trend is there will be an increasing number of strong and violent typhoons.

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As for rising sea levels, Wang says planetary rotation and the abundance of seawater in the Taiwan Strait will cause sea level off Taiwan’s west coast to rise twice as fast as the global average.

Head of Air Clean Taiwan Yeh Kuang-men (葉光芃) compares Taiwan to Indonesia, which has already decided to relocate its capital city of Jakarta (Read: Jakarta Is One of the World's Fastest Disappearing Cities). Taipei is beset by high temperatures, floods, air pollution, earthquakes, and other natural or manmade disasters. Risk management is required. Relocating the capital is a major undertaking that may take two to three decades. If Taiwan is to do this, it must start now.

Peng says the risk of floods is determined by a city’s infrastructure.

In Taiwan, it’s hard to find a place that does not flood, but it’s possible to quickly drain the floodwater and begin recovery efforts. Taipei is overcrowded and overdeveloped. Losses will be significant, and recovery will be difficult if there is a major disaster.

The IPCC recommends that carbon emissions be cut by half by 2030, and reach net zero by 2050, in order to keep temperature increase below 1.5°C. But Peng is pessimistic about this forecast. The world has been slow to act, and it is anyone’s guess whether temperature increase can even be kept below 2°C.

Taiwan has not done any better to reduce carbon emission. In some regards, it is regressing to older, dirtier habits. For instance, the policy to ban all gasoline-powered scooters by 2035 has unfortunately been put on hold. (Read: Does the e-Mobility Wave Spell the End of Taiwan’s 28,000 Motorcycle Repair Shops?)

Peng is critical of the government and feels the policy should be all-encompassing. The government should focus not only on reducing carbon emission, but also on climate change adaptation.

However, the last couple of years have been all talk, no action. President Tsai Ing-wen’s administration has not set more aggressive carbon reduction goals, and Vice President Chen Chien-jen’s 2017 pledge to combat climate change and air pollution after pension reform has so far been an empty promise.

From left to right: Climate experts Chaolun Chen (陳昭倫), Yeh Kuang-men (葉光芃), and C. M. Peng (彭啟明) call on the government to take action against climate change. (Source: Chen Wen Tzu)

Perhaps Taiwan can learn from kindred spirits from around the world. 16-year-old Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg became a global icon by initiating the “school strike for climate” movement, also known as Fridays for Future. It was a watershed moment that made everyone focus on climate change again, similar to Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” in 2006. A massive protest called the “Global Climate Strike for Future” is set to take place on May 24^th. Taiwan will take part in the protest.

Professor Chaolun Chen (陳昭倫), a researcher at the Biodiversity Research Center at Academia Sinica (中研院生物多樣性研究中心), says sea levels around Taiwan are rising at a rate that’s among the highest in the world. Even if temperature increase is capped at 1.5°C, 90% of the world’s coral reefs will still be lost forever. The surrounding ecosystem that indirectly sustains human lives will vanish along with the coral reefs. “We have less than a dozen years before 2030, is this the world we want to see?” He asks.

Yeh points out that the British Parliament and Irish Parliament declared climate emergency on May 1^st and 9^th respectively. Taiwan should also declare climate emergency and take more aggressive steps to combat climate change. He calls on every man, woman, and child to join the protest against climate change on May 24^th.

Translated by Jack C.
Edited by Sharon Tseng

Original content provided by Taiwan Environmental Information Center (TEIA). It presents the opinion or perspective of the original author / organization, which does not represent the standpoint of CommonWealth magazine.