Greece plans to name heatwaves in the same way as storms
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Spurred on by this summer’s record temperatures, Greek scientists have begun discussing the need to name and rank heatwaves, better known for their invisibility, before rampant wildfires made the realities of the climate crisis increasingly stark.
A preventative measure, the move would enable policymakers and affected populations to be more prepared for what are being described by experts as “silent killers.”
Greece has experienced two bouts of extreme heat since June, both unusually prolonged and intense, with the second wave lasting almost three weeks. A new rise in temperatures last week saw Athens once again fall victim to peri-urban fires, with devastating blazes breaking out north-west of the capital. Dr Kostas Lagouvardos, research director at the National Observatory of Athens, told the Observer it is clear the extreme heat has been underestimated.
“This very hot summer has given us a snapshot of a future climate in 20 or 30 years’ time when we’re likely to have very long periods of very high temperatures,” he said. “It’s extreme behaviour but it could become the norm. Unlike other adverse weather events, you can’t see extreme heat.”
It was essential, he insisted, that both state authorities and citizens were aware of the dangers. “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 aware of the possible problems it could cause to their lives and to their properties … heatwaves cause a lot of deaths; they don’t make noise and they may not be visible but they’re a silent killer.”
Four years ago, Greek meteorologists began naming winter storms and other adverse weather phenomena as the challenges to lives and properties became clear.
Lagouvardos, who trained in France and is the Observatory’s chief meteorologist, said ranking heatwaves would be “trickier” because categorisation inevitably involved gauging temperature distribution and population densities.
But, more generally, heatwaves were easier to predict in intensity and duration than storms. If temperatures of over 40C persisted for more than a week, Greek scientists believed they should be named, he said. The same series of alternate male and female monikers drawn from Greek history and mythology that had been used for storms could now be applied to heatwaves.
Photo: A local resident wearing Greece’s national football team t-shirt looks at approaching flames, during a wildfire at the village of Pefki in the Evia, Greece. EPA-EFE/KOSTAS TSIRONIS
