Extreme Precipitation and Public Health Consequences in Taiwan

Abstract

Increasing intensity of tropical cyclones, including typhoons in Southeast Asia and hurricanes in southeast America, partly attributable to global climate disruption, is linked to greater probability of extreme precipitation. Taiwan has endured a nearly 2-fold rise in average temperature over the past century while an elevated trend of precipitation intensity is also observed. Extreme precipitation has brought about the direct significant loss of human life and indirect damage as a consequence of changing risk areas and distribution patterns for both infectious and chronic diseases. Public health impacts associated with extreme precipitation are herein elaborated.