The rising air and sea temperatures, along with the steadily decreasing snowfall each year, are three key factors disrupting the climate in Greece, according to Kathimerini and Kostas Lagouvardos, Research Director at the National Observatory of Athens.
The country’s average temperature has increased by 1.5–2°C over the last three decades, marking a rapid and significant shift in climate patterns. The most intense rise during this period has been recorded in inland areas, such as Western Macedonia, where the temperature increase already exceeds 2°C.
As for the warming sea waters, they evaporate more easily, creating heavier, moisture-laden clouds. This contributes to extreme rainfall events, such as storm Daniel.
Today, four regions in Greece — including Attica — face a very high risk of wildfires (Level 4 alert).
“This specific storm in Thessaly happened in early September 2023, after an extremely hot summer and very warm sea temperatures. So, while the sea temperature may not have caused the storm itself, it certainly intensified it,” Mr. Lagouvardos explained.
The third factor — the decreasing snow — leads to greater solar radiation being reflected off the ground, among other consequences.
Mr. Lagouvardos adds: “We need the snow, because as it melts slowly toward the end of spring, it feeds streams and rivers gradually, replenishing the aquifers gently and steadily. That’s unlike heavy rain, which can cause damage, rush off as a torrent into the sea, and essentially be lost.”
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