Greece has hurt through asummer of hellish warmth . Now , experts want to give heat waves name and rankings like the 1 assigned to hurricane and tropical storm .
Heat is often called a “ silent slayer ” because while it does n’t cause the same visible destruction that surprise , tornado , or fires do , it is one of thedeadliest forms of extreme weatherin the world .
“ Unlike other inauspicious weather condition outcome , you ca n’t see extreme heat , ” Kostas Lagouvardos , research director at the National Observatory of Athens , tell theGuardian ’s baby newspaper publisher the Observer . He said policymakers and the public ask to be cognisant of the quiet risk heat mannerism , and that name heat waves could be a agency to do just that .
A man stands in front of a wild fire in Schinos, west of Athens, on 12 December 2024.Photo: Valerie Gache/AFP (Getty Images)
“ We believe people will be more prepared to face an upcoming weather event when the event has a name , ” he said . “ They ’ll become more mindful of the possible problems it could cause to their biography and to their properties . ”
The want has become startlingly clear this month . Punishing temperatures in Greece have crushed records , mount well into the treble digits as the state bakes through its second major heat wave since June . In the central area of Phthiotis , the National Observatory of Athens recorded the nation ’s highest temperature since disc - holding began , at 115 level Fahrenheit ( 46 degrees Celsius ) . The nation ’s prime ministercalled the heat wave“the greatest bionomical disaster of the last few decades . ”
The utmost high temperature has sucked the moisture out of flora , sparkingdozens of destructivewildfires that scorch more than 250,000 acres . Theblazesforced M to evacuate , killed three , and left hundreds stateless . Two fires arestill burningjust alfresco of the majuscule metropolis of Athens . But even absent wildfires , tyrannical estrus is also withering in less seeable way , increasing the risk of heat - touch on illnesses like heating plant exhaustion and heatstroke .
While heat may be a still orca , it is the clearest impact of the climate crisis . Amajor United Nations clime reportpublished in the first place this calendar month found mood change has alreadydoubled the betting odds of heating system wave , and the danger will only increase in the come decennary . That channelize to the pressing motive for adaptation , and name heat energy waves could be one mode to facilitate people grasp the risks they model .
Lagouvardos ’ proposition is that any heat energy waving with temperature foreshadow to be above 104 degrees Fahrenheit ( 40 degrees Celsius ) for more than a calendar week should be nominate and categorise . He added that this process could be more challenging for heat than typhoon or wintertime storms because a ranking scale would have to include assessments of factors like temperature distribution and population density . But in other ways , it could be easier . compare with storms , heat waves are well-fixed to predict in rigor and duration .
Global clime scientific discipline and aesculapian experts have long advocated for grievous heat waves to have figure and rankings . Last yr , some researchers , metropolis authorities , and nonprofit organizations even form theExtreme Heat Resilience Alliance , an initiative create with this express role .
If Greece acts on these recommendations , it will be the first body politic in the world to do so . Last month , Athens became the first city in Europe to appoint achief passion officerto discover ways for the metropolis to adapt to oppressive temperatures . The appointee , Eleni Myrivili , order the Observer she would support naming heat waves , too .
“ The whole estimate of making heat waving more seeable by name and categorize them in damage of stiffness would be a turning point , ” she say .
Torridness
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