![\"Drought-stricken](\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2021\/05\/1e5f524d-sun-moon-lake-1024x683.jpg\" "\\"Drought-stricken")
Taiwan, known for its waterfalls and lush mountains, is experiencing its worst drought in 56 years. The dry spell has persisted for 18 months<\/a>, including a highly unusual summer in which zero typhoons made landfall on the island.<\/p>\n\n Vendors at Sun Moon Lake say the area\u2019s tourism industry, already struggling due to COVID-19, has been further battered by the drought. As a result of water shortages, water supplies in the area near the lake are periodically cut off with little notice.<\/p>\n\n Locals say that the boat tour business is suffering due to lack of water.<\/p>\n\n \u201cThere is a lot less water in the lake, so tourists aren\u2019t interested in taking a boat tour, which has a serious impact on the boatmen\u2019s businesses \u2026 Sun Moon Lake on weekdays really is deserted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n It isn\u2019t just the famous Sun Moon Lake that has been impacted – across Taiwan reservoirs are drying up.<\/p>\n\n In Baoshan Second Reservoir, Hsinchu County, the volume of water had decreased 96.2% between March 12, 2019 and March 12, 2021. At Zeng-wen Reservoir in Chiayi County it decreased 81.1% over a two-year period, and at Techi Reservoir in Taichung it declined 73.3%, according to Greenpeace East Asia calculations.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n Landsat images by the U.S. Geological Survey reveal changes in the Techi reservoir. The volume of water in the reservoir had decreased by 73.3%<\/em><\/em> over a two-year period (February 1, 2019 – February 1, 2021).<\/em><\/p>\n\n Greenpeace activist Yu-Jun Lin visited Techi reservoir in April.<\/p>\n\n “There was no water left in the reservoir. If you didn\u2019t have an old photo for reference, you would think it\u2019s just a regular mountain landscape,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n In Taichung, Taiwan\u2019s second largest city, the government has shut off water taps two days per week.<\/a><\/p>\n\n Islandwide, local governments have reported tens of millions of dollars <\/a>in agriculture losses. In high-elevation Nantou, where Sun Moon Lake is located, tea trees have shriveled up, and the harvest is expected to shrink<\/a> by 20%. <\/p>\n\n As climate change intensifies, scientists project that droughts in Taiwan will become increasingly common.<\/p>\n\n On the current trajectory, spring rain in Taiwan is on track to decrease 13.2% <\/a>by mid-century, according to research from Academic Sinica.<\/p>\n\n Likewise, scientists say that the frequency of typhoons in Taiwan is decreasing as global temperatures rise. By the end of the century, the number of typhoons that reach Taiwan could be reduced by half<\/a>, Dr. Huang-Hsiung Hsu, a climate researcher at Academia Sinica, told Reuters. <\/p>\n\n At present, more than 80%<\/a> of Taiwan\u2019s energy supply comes from fossil fuels, though the energy mix is slowly changing. Since 2016, Taiwan has seen a five-fold increase in solar-power capacity<\/a>, and in 2019 the first offshore wind farm became operational.<\/p>\n\n However, the pace of transition is not nearly fast enough to address the intensifying climate emergency.<\/p>\n\n \u201cTaiwan\u2019s government must create a detailed timeline showing how we will reach net zero emissions before 2050. They also must implement an effective carbon pricing mechanism as soon as possible,\u201d said Greenpeace East Asia campaigner Tracy Cheng.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n \u201cBut the future of water availability in Taiwan also depends on whether we as a planet can cut down on emissions quickly enough. We have many better alternatives to coal, oil and gas, but really there is no replacement for water.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Lena Chang is a Climate & Energy Campaigner and Erin Newport is a Communications Officer. Both work at Greenpeace East Asia. <\/em><\/p>\n\t\t\t It\u2019s time for all of us to assert our rights, demand climate justice, and a dignified way of life.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t We have many better alternatives to coal, oil and gas, but really there is no replacement for water.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":47823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[69,70],"tags":[65,88,89],"p4-page-type":[59],"class_list":["post-47795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","category-nature","tag-energy-revolution","tag-coal","tag-climate","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47795"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51087,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47795\/revisions\/51087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47795"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=47795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Impact on tourism<\/h3>\n\n
![\"Ita](\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2021\/05\/d3b59f2a-ita-thao-pier-1024x683.jpg\" "\\"Ita")
\u201cTourists have booked homestays, but homestay operators only became aware that the water would be cut off on that day. All they can do is send the guests away and absorb the financial loss themselves,\u201d said one guesthouse owner.<\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n![\"Fishing](\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2021\/05\/5a258d9f-fishing-nets-and-other-debris-in-sun-moon-lake-1024x683.jpg\" "\\"Fishing")
Record-setting drought<\/h3>\n\n
![\"Satellite](\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2021\/05\/f12dab40-satellite-images-of-techi-reservoir-november-2019-1024x725.jpg\" "\\"Satellite")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2021\/05\/0dac8193-satellite-images-of-techi-reservoir-in-february-2021-1024x725.jpg\" "\\"Satellite")
A drier future for Taiwan<\/h3>\n\n
Climate Action in Taiwan<\/h3>\n\n