One of the best things about living in Greece has always been its climate. Mild, sunny and dry, with a short winter and an absence of violent weather. Unfortunately, this has been gradually changing over the last few years, with more rain in the spring months, warm winds and a muggy atmosphere. Sand storms blowing in from the Sahara have also multiplied (I wrote about it in my post, An Orange Sky – https://athensletters.com/2018/04/11/an-orange-sky/), as have summer wildfires.
The latest manifestation of this phenomenon was a terrible storm that hit the northern province of Halkidiki a few days ago, killing six people and causing a lot of damage. At least 100 others were injured, with 23 people hospitalised. A state of emergency has been declared, with dozens of rescue workers dispatched to help.
A study conducted by the Crowther Lab at ETH Zurich university, anticipates that by 2050 global temperatures will have risen by 2C from pre-industrial levels. Under these conditions, three quarters of the world’s 500 largest cities will experience dramatic changes in climate (a lot of large cities are near water, who’s level keeps rising.) The worst hit, among them Singapore and Jakarta, will develop weather patterns so extreme that they don’t currently exist anywhere on earth.
Weather patterns have always been cyclical, and are not only affected by the antics of mankind. However, this is getting rather scary…
Letters from Athens 
I saw the recent disaster on the news here. Very sad.
And I have to agree, Marina. It is getting a little scary now.
It will be interesting to see what happens in 2050. But if I live that long, I will be 98. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I agree, it is scary.
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Scary stuff indeed! Had not heard about the storm in your fair land and sorry to learn it was so violent. Lately I’ve been reading about the idea of planting trees to counteract carbon emissions. Could it be enough to keep the temperatures down? I fear it is already too late… 😢
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Getting scary? Been terrifying for a very long time.
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Too true…
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Very scary and upsetting. 😦
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It is…
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Scary indeed
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Yes…
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I did not know this had happened till now Marina. Sadly, many people are affected by global warming weather shifts. We had terrible fires here at Easter.
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There are weird weather patterns all over the place…
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Definitely scary.
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