Once considered a distant challenge, climate change is now seen as an urgent and visible reality shaping Taipei’s environment, infrastructure and increasingly public health systems. From rising temperatures and intensifying typhoons to deteriorating air quality, the Taiwanese capital is on the frontlines of an evolving Asian climate crisis.

Located in the Taipei Basin and bordered by the volcanic Yangmingshan mountain range to the north and Taiwan’s Central Mountain Range to the southeast, Taipei’s geography makes it both scenic and vulnerable. The basin traps heat and pollutants, while low-lying areas near the Tamsui and Keelung rivers are becoming increasingly susceptible to sudden flooding; a reality on several occasions each year in the past decade that left streets flooded and at times communities cut off.

One of the most severe cases in recent years saw the only coastal road to Tamsui flooded to waist height in 2016, leaving thousands of children at schools in the Tamsui area stuck. The area's only train line connecting Tamsui with Taipei was out of action until waters receded in the early evening.

A hotter, wetter, wilder city

According to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration, average temperatures across the East Asian island have risen by about 1.6°C since the early 20th century with a sudden increase in recent decades. Taipei, with its dense urban sprawl and limited green spaces in the city, has seen this trend more acutely than elsewhere.

Summers have grown longer and noticeably more extreme in just the past few years. In 2020 and 2021, Taipei recorded its highest-ever consecutive number of days with temperatures above 36°C. The concrete jungle that makes up the city proper acts as heat sinks, amplifying what’s known as the ‘urban heat island’ effect.

Night-time temperatures no longer offer much relief, despite many in the city maintaining the old ways and coming out after the sun sets to shop and eat at night markets that remain open well after midnight. Increasingly, though, this is having a knock-on effect on society as children are kept up with their parents well after a 'normal' bedtime on a school night, leading to more and more reports of behavioural issues at schools with students sleeping in class.

Meanwhile, rainfall patterns have shifted. The city is experiencing shorter but more intense bursts of rain, particularly in the late afternoon, on an almost daily basis from as early as April through to late September; a clear hallmark of climate change.

These sudden downpours often overwhelm drainage systems, leading to flash floods in city centre areas like Zhongzheng and older neighbourhoods with dated infrastructure like Wanhua on the banks of the Tamsui River, both districts where low-lying zones meet ageing infrastructure.

Typhoon-triggered floods too have become more common and far more destructive in recent years, with local climate scientists noting that storms are now carrying more moisture and moving more slowly; a dangerous combination for a mountainous island like Taiwan where typhoons can linger for days when faced with hundreds of peaks in excess of 3,000m.

In the wake of each typhoon that hit or even just passed by Taipei in recent years, the clean up was not limited to draining away the water. Trees are now falling victim to excessive wind levels and are left blocking roads. On several occasions in both Taipei in the north and Kaohsiung in the south, cranes atop large construction projects have been toppled.

Stronger, wetter typhoons 

Paradoxically, the number of typhoons making landfall and hitting Taiwan directly has slightly decreased over the past two decades. But those that do strike tend to be stronger and wetter. Taipei, although not on the Pacific coast, is regularly impacted by typhoon systems that move inland from eastern Taiwan and sweep across the northern part of the island up towards Japan’s Okinawa island chain.

Typhoon Soudelor in 2015 brought winds exceeding 200km per hour and dumped more than 1,300mm of rain in parts of northern Taiwan. In Taipei, downed trees blocked roads, broken power lines were a danger to life, and severe flooding paralysed the city. Many Taipei Metro (MRT) services across the capital were suspended for several days, and over 4mn households across the main island of Taiwan lost power.

But Taipei escaped a bullet. In the south of the country, Kaohsiung saw six lose their lives with almost 200 injuries reported.

More recently, in 2021, Typhoon Chanthu hovered near Taiwan for several days, delivering torrential rain and high winds. Many farms in the north of the country lost all crops and school closures were called on successive days throughout Taipei and New Taipei City. Coming at a time of lockdown because of COVID only exacerbated the issue as scheduled shopping runs for food could not take place and inoculation schedules were disrupted.

According to meteorologists, the intensity of these storms comes from ocean temperatures rising and typhoons thus drawing more energy from the Pacific off the Philippines as they approach Taiwan before stalling for longer over populated areas. This in turn is increasing the risk of catastrophic flooding and landslides in hilly northern districts like Beitou and Neihu.

Air quality

Worsening air quality too is becoming a chronic and seasonally acute issue and is only exacerbated by climate change. Air pollution in Taipei has multiple sources: local vehicle emissions, industrial output from nearby New Taipei districts, and transboundary pollutants from China carried by winter monsoon winds.

Particulate matter (PM2.5), regularly exceeds World Health Organisation guidelines, particularly during winter months and in early spring, when prevailing winds blow dust and industrial pollutants from China toward Taiwan. Taipei experiences spikes in poor air quality, often triggering health alerts and respiratory issues. Warmer, stagnant air in the summer months between May and early October traps pollutants closer to the ground, while increased energy use for air conditioners across Greater Taipei with its 7mn or so population boosts emissions from power generation sources.

That the city’s topography — surrounded by mountains — hampers the dispersal of polluted air does not help as Taipei sits in a natural bowl where particles can linger. 

And with the closure on May 17 of Taiwan's last nuclear power plant and an increased reliance on gas and coal for power, it is only expected to get worse. In early 2025, the Taiwanese capital witnessed many more days of poor air quality than is usual. It is the fault, the government says, of wind levels not being able to disperse pollutants sufficiently. 

Infrastructure issues

After the devastation of Typhoon Nari in 2001, which flooded MRT tunnels and caused billions of dollars in damage, the city invested heavily in flood management systems. These include flood gates along many major rivers encircling Taipei, pump stations and the upgrading of river embankments.

But with climate extremes intensifying, experts warn that existing systems are nearing their design limits. The Tamsui River, which runs along the western edge of the city, is protected by levees, but storm surges or backflow during typhoons have come close to challenging these defences. In 2017, officials had to activate emergency flood barriers near the famous tourist area of Dadaocheng Wharf to prevent inundation and destruction of some of Taiwan’s most iconic Japan-era buildings.

Ageing infrastructure, especially in older districts bordering the Tamsui River such as Datong and Shilin, has also caused issues. Roads are now actually buckling during heatwaves, such is the heat generated by the heat island effect, and videos on social media often show locals attempting to fry eggs outside.

Government response

Fortunately, Taipei’s government is not ignoring the challenge even if the central government seems less interested. The city has launched a "Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan" that outlines goals across sectors — from increasing green space and permeable surfaces to improving emergency response systems. River parks, such as those along the Keelung and Xindian rivers in north and south Taipei, provide recreational space but also act as huge flood buffers.

The Taipei Smart City initiative, which incorporates data-driven responses to weather events and traffic management, is also helping the city become more agile in response to climate risks.

Having been flooded before, the MRT system has learnt its lesson and now has flood gates and water-level sensors. Tree planting campaigns, although slow moving, are expanding urban green cover to reduce heat retention – something of an irony given that regular cutting back of roadside trees across the capital is so severe that little if any shade is left once complete.

However, adaptation without mitigation is not a complete answer. Taiwan as a whole is still grappling with its energy transition. With nuclear power having been officially phased out, the resulting reliance on natural gas has increased strongly.

In comparison, renewable energy remains underdeveloped relative to national climate targets, which include reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 – a figure many see as unrealistic.

Taipei in mid-2025 stands at a climatic crossroads. It is a vibrant, technologically sophisticated capital with a high standard of living. Yet its location, topography, and growing exposure to extreme weather in the western Pacific and off the coast of China place it in the shadow of an escalating climate threat.

In the years ahead, the success of Taipei’s climate response will rest not only on infrastructure upgrades or smart sensors, but on deeper political choices: energy policy, urban planning and public engagement.

As typhoons grow bigger and stronger, air grows heavier, and summers grow hotter, the clock is ticking for Taipei, and storm clouds are already on the horizon.

This article is part of a series on how climate change is affecting cities around the world. Read other articles in the series here: 

Cities confront the rising tide of climate change