Weather bureau says that as 2023 is an El Nino year, typhoons will be stronger

Weather bureau says that as 2023 is an El Nino year, typhoons will be stronger

2023-06-30

The number of typhoons in the Western Pacific has been low this year, but their number should reach the annual average before year’s end, forecasters say. However, more important than the frequency of typhoons is their intensity this year. This year is an El Nino year. The phenomenon means that typhoons form farther away and get stronger before reaching Taiwan.

Taipei was hot and sunny on Friday morning, and temperatures are expected to remain high for the coming week. Only three typhoons have formed over the Western Pacific Ocean so far this year, well below the average of 4.3, but the Central Weather Bureau says between 21 and 25 more typhoons may hit the region before the year is over. Those reaching Taiwan should be on par with the annual average, it said.

Lu Kuo-chen
Forecaster
There should still be around four or five typhoons that reach Taiwan this year. Those numbers comply with our statistics, and there have been other El Nino years with similar numbers. We estimate that the number of typhoons that reach Taiwan this year will be close to normal values.

Although the number of typhoons reaching Taiwan this year will be within annual norms, during El Nino years typhoons tend to be stronger.

Lu Kuo-chen
Forecaster
During El Nino years, typhoons form farther from Taiwan. Therefore, to reach Taiwan a typhoon has to travel farther, and will pick up more warm water from the ocean, which will give it more energy. So, normally the typhoons that reach Taiwan during El Nino years are stronger.

In Taiwan, temperatures tend to rise and fall frequently in May. Then, in June, the western half of Taiwan proper tends to be warmer. Between July and September, temperatures normalize and tend to stay high, and rainfall decreases. This trend is the same in 2023, but the weather bureau says that as an El Nino year, typhoons are expected to be stronger.

今年估4到5颱風侵台聖嬰年影響強度中級以上

2023-06-30

颱風季要來了，氣象局今天舉行颱風展望記者會，預估今年侵台颱風數約有4到5個，下半年北太平洋西部颱風生成總數正常偏少，但侵台颱風個數則是正常，不過聖嬰現象將在秋季發生，颱風強度會達到中級以上。

台北一早艷陽高照，天氣晴朗，未來一週依舊高溫炎熱，氣象局表示，今年到目前為止，北太平洋西部只生成3個颱風，較氣候平均值4.3個還少，預估下半年約有21個至25個颱風生成，侵台個數接近正常值。

[[氣象局預報中心主任呂國臣]]
“今年的颱風進來台灣的個數，最多還是4到5個左右，這數字大概是跟我們在統計，聖嬰年的這些案例是有類似的，預計在今年的颱風侵台數，大概是接近正常值的情況”

颱風侵台數雖然跟以往差不多，但聖嬰年的颱風強度會來到中度等級以上。

[[氣象局預報中心主任呂國臣]]
“在聖嬰年它生成的位置離台灣比較遠，所以它要侵襲到台灣，它走過洋面會比較長，所以它吸收海水溫度，所提供能量就會比較多，所以侵台颱風在聖嬰年，通常強度會比較強”

在氣溫方面，5月冷熱交替頻繁，6月西半部偏暖，未來一季展望，7到9月氣溫以正常偏高的機率較大，而雨量則是正常偏少，氣象局也提醒，即將進入颱風季，雖然生成颱風數量少，但強度千萬不可輕忽。

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The DPP presidential candidate, Vice President Lai Ching-te, recently proposed narrowing the gap between public and private university tuition fees and related miscellaneous expenses. On Thursday, the Executive Yuan approved an annual tuition subsidy of NT$35,000 per head for students of private colleges and universities.

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It’s also because we’ve stuck to fiscal discipline in recent years, so the government’s tax surplus has exceeded NT$100 billion each of the past five years, and last year it was close to NT$500 billion. So this kind of process allows us to give all students even more care.

However, these good intentions from the government are also being questioned by opposition politicians. They allege that throwing money around on such a large scale is no more than a vote-buying policy. The KMT’s presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih in particular has attacked Lai for days. However, Taichung mayor Lu Shiow-yen has spoken up in support of the policy.

Lu Shiow-yen
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I personally support it. This money comes from the state. Everyone who has a chance to be president should enforce it.

Hou Yu-ih
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When we look at the management of public and private tuition fees, we should not wait until the last year when there is an election and use this as an election tool. What’s most important is that our entire higher education system needs to move toward gradually integrating public and private institutions.

Hou refused to take questions from journalists on why he and his fellow KMT member Lu had different opinions. Instead, he’s still continuing to attack Lai for this policy.

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Students discuss government’s plans to cut private university tuition fees

So how do the students themselves feel about Vice President Lai’s idea of subsidies for private university students? On Thursday, an NGO devoted to equal rights in higher education held a press conference, where students praised the Executive Yuan for slashing private university and college tuition fees by NT$35,000 per student per year. They added, however, that the government hadn’t taken this nearly far enough, citing other significant obstacles they faced, such as massive student loans.

Holding placards and chanting slogans, this group of young people who care about equal rights in higher education are delighted to see that ahead of the legislative and presidential elections, some candidates are directly putting forth policies that tackle youth issues.

Huang Ching-tang
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Students may abandon their ideal faculty in a private university because public university tuition fees are cheaper. This policy can effectively resolve the problem of students’ rights to select suitable higher education.

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The DPP’s presidential candidate Vice President Lai Ching-te has proposed to bridge the gap in tuition fees between public and private universities. Shortly after this, the Executive Yuan approved NT$35,000 in subsidies per head annually for private university students. Opposition parties have criticized the government for throwing money around before an election and say it amounts to a vote-buying policy. The students had this to say in response:

Huang Ching-tang
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Calling it a vote-buying policy is an extremely cheap shot, because as long as all your policies are beneficial to people, they could be said to be vote buying. For a long time, young people have felt that politicians seem to be very far away from them, so I think it’s very good to see even more policies that directly impact youth get on the agenda of everyone’s discussions.

The group hopes that the political mudslinging over Lai’s plans to reduce tuition fees will not obscure the real need for reform. The hearts of youth can only be won over with practical policies.

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The US is looking to boost trade with India as part of ‘friendshoring’ efforts

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A semiconductor-equipment supplier that is a subsidiary of the Japanese multinational conglomerate Hitachi, has added to its investments in Taiwan with an R&D center in Hsinchu. President Tsai Ing-wen was on hand to witness the inauguration ceremony.

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