Taichung's Air Quality Worse and Worse

3-6-16 7:59am Sun. (1)

     The weather has turned nice enough for me to return to the patio for breakfast and to update the journal. Although it has gotten warmer the past few days, the air pollution hasn't gone away. I look out towards the Da-keng Mountain but see it I cannot for the smog in its way. Because Taiwan is such a humid place to begin with, the dust, sand, and intergalactic debris is held in the air by the moisture droplets. Only the sun evaporating the moisture in the air, a typhoon wind, or a good shower, can clear the view. I have worn a protective mask when out riding since we moved here three and a half years ago. 

     The pollution, unheated homes, and unprotected work environment have taken their toll in Taiwan. Because of the cold air, the coldest in Taiwan in living memory, there is now an endemic of the type ‘A’ flu swamping the hospitals. Leona said 58 people have died so far; more than were killed by SARS. Meanwhile, the pollution itself causes heart failure, emphysema and bronchitis, of which I suffered last winter. Add the smoke from cars, cooking, and cigarettes, and you have an unusually high number of lung cancer victims, add the danger of barbeque meats and deep fried food people are used to eat, and Taiwan is a leader in colon cancer, a leader in liver cancer for all the alcohol consumed. Add to this the fatigue and nervous breakdown of overworked and underpaid workers and mental disease is rampant, with a paucity of counseling; most people are superstitious and go to their temples to pray or burn ghost money for relief. Occasionally a psychologist prescribes sleeping pills or anti-depressants when things start breaking down. The government is slow to warn people of the dangers, generally protecting corporations that cause the dangers. People are victims. Many of Leona's friends, overambitious and swimming upstream are victims. It is hard to watch. We didn't come to Taiwan for our health, but we are generally healthier for not having lived or worked here the last 25 years.