Bini Dahal

With days continuing to grow hotter, the human race seems to have adopted climate change as a new normal. But the situation may get worsened in the foreseeable future if global warming keeps rising.
A recent report published by the United Nations has called the year 2020 as one of the three warmest years on record. As per the findings of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the average world temperature in 2020 was about 1.2-degree Celsius above the pre-industrial level. This number is pretty close to the 1.5-degree Celsius limit that scientists have advocated for to prevent the worst climate change conditions.
This has already proven how harmful it is in most parts of the world. And one of the recent news is about Taiwan, which is currently suffering from a long spell of drought this year owing to no occurrence of a typhoon. It is the worst drought in 56 years. The issue is that many of the water reservoirs there have a capacity of less than 20 per cent, and in some, the water level it has fallen below 10 per cent.
According to the BBC, in Hsinchu County’s Baoshan No.2 Reservoir, the water level is just 7 per cent, the lowest ever. This reservoir is one of the primary water sources for Taiwan’s $100 billion semiconductor industry. So, these reservoirs cannot be useful to people and most importantly for industries, to utilise as an alternative source.
Taiwan is one of the world’s largest manufacturers and suppliers of advanced chips. The demand for semiconductors is so high. The local authorities have stopped irrigating more than 74,000 hectares of farmland since last year. Semiconductors that many companies around the world use are produced there. The semiconductor industry contributes a lot to the territory’s economic development but it makes use of excess water during the manufacturing process.
Now, the drought has forced the authorities to provide water only two days a week to residents and businesses in three different cities and counties. As a way to prevent further water use, high-volume industrial users there have been asked to reduce water use by 13 per cent and non-industrial users by 20 per cent. The greater focus on semiconductor industries seems to have greatly affected the territory’s farming sector, too. Due to unavailability of water even for two times a week, the farmers have been forced to leave their lands uncultivated.
Amid such a depressing circumstance caused by water scarcity, people are now wishing for the annual rainy season to create normalcy on the island. The rainy season which lasts from mid-May to mid-June, usually brings a lot of rain there. But many are not optimistic about the rainy season as last year’s rainy season did not see enough rainfall.
Today, it is Taiwan to face this problem. Tomorrow somewhere else might face such extreme climate change effects. It is this reason why drought in the territory should not be ignored at all. Economic development alone should not be our ultimate goal. We have to focus on preserving our environment and its health to ensure that our development process is on the right track. As long as activities like climate change remain, we will suffer in every way possible. Therefore, the global community should now shift their complete focus towards saving this planet of ours from destruction for our own survival and for our future generations.