Focus Taiwan
Date: 09/10/2020
By: Wu Hsin-yun and Ko Lin

Taipei, Sept. 10 (CNA) The coral reefs in waters around Taiwan have suffered the worst bleaching in 2020 since the last big El Niño event 22 years ago, the international environmental organization Greenpeace said Thursday.

In a press release, Greenpeace said the United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in July and August raised the coral bleaching heat stress alert for areas in northern and southern Taiwan from Level 1 to Level 2, the highest in its five-tier system.

According to the NOAA, Level 1 indicates "Significant Bleaching Likely," while Level 2 means "Severe Bleaching and Significant Mortality Likely," while the lower alerts are "No Stress," "Watch" and "Warning."

Large-scale bleaching was observed at three different diving sites in Kenting National Park from Aug. 17-19, the worst seen in Taiwan since 1998, Greenpeace project director Lena Chang (張皪心) said.    [FULL  STORY]