1.2 million people in SW Taiwan could be displaced by flooding due to global warming by 2050

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/23
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Southwestern Taiwan, including Tainan City, in particular, is expected to be the region most heavily impacted by global warming, affecting over 1.2 million people, according to the environmental protection group Greenpeace.

On Sunday (Sept. 22), Greenpeace set up an 250-centimeter-tall ice sculpture inscribed with the Chinese characters "climate crisis" in Taipei's Ximending area, reported CNA. Greenpeace representatives at the exhibit said that if action is not taken quickly, 310 square kilometers could be submerged in Tainan by 2050.

Through the melting of the ice sculpture, Greenpeace activists hoped to raise awareness of global warming and demanded that Taiwan's 2020 presidential candidates propose sustainable solutions. They said that government leaders should actively respond to the crisis with a new energy policy.

The activists said that if Taiwan and the world do not take measures to actively reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, an estimated 1,398 square kilometers of Taiwan's southwestern coastal areas could be flooded, the equivalent to 5,377 Da'an Forest Parks, according to the report. The environmental organization estimates that over 1.2 million people in Taiwan could be displaced by this flooding, with Tainan City the most heavily impacted area.    [FULL  STORY]