A Greek Tragedy? Economy Cools, Temperature Heats Up

People in cities around the Mediterranean including Athens, Rome and Marseilles are likely to suffer most in Europe from ever more scorching heatwaves this century caused by climate change, scientists said at the beginning of the when Greece hosts the third annual Mediterranean Sustainable Energy Summit organised by Financial Times, under the auspices of the President of the Hellenic Republic.

Climate change threatens health by Mediterranean

Alister Doyle, Reuters Environment Correspondent (16 May 2010):

People in cities around the Mediterranean including Athens, Rome and Marseilles are likely to suffer most in Europe from ever more scorching heatwaves this century caused by climate change, scientists said on Sunday.

The number of heatwaves was likely to surge to almost 3 each summer from 2071-2100 in the Mediterranean region from just one every third year from 1961-1990, it said. Most other parts of Europe would suffer far less.

The number of Mediterranean summer days with temperatures above 105 Fahrenheit (40.6C), a threshold in the United States for public health warnings, would rise to about 16 a year from 1.6 in the same period.

Heat-related health problems would be felt most by people living near the coast or in low-lying river valleys, according to scientists in Switzerland and the United States writing in the journal Nature Geoscience about health and heat projections.

“Some of the most densely populated European regions, such as the urban areas of Athens, Bucharest, Marseilles, Milan, Rome and Naples, would experience the severest changes in health indicators,” they wrote.

About 40,000 people died in an extreme heatwave in Europe in 2003. But Erich Fischer, lead author of the study at the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science at ETH Zurich, said it was uncertain how deadly future heatwaves would be.

Air pollution might aggravate health risks for people with respiratory or heart problems in hotter temperatures, he said. And he said the study did not consider that cities can act as “heat islands” — often warmer than surrounding countryside.

On the other hand, improved weather forecasts can help ensure that people at risk — especially the elderly and the very young — stay in the shade and drink more on hot days. And air conditioning might become more efficient and widely used.

“People living in Arizona show that you can adapt to heat,” Fischer told Reuters. In such hot climates, people avoid straining themselves outdoors at the hottest part of the day.

He said the study was the first to pinpoint areas of Europe where rising temperatures would coincide with rising humidity, high night-time temperatures and long-lasting heatwaves — all factors that can aggravate health problems.

Global warming will mean more moisture in the air from the Mediterranean, for instance, making it harder for people to sweat away excess heat. High night-time temperatures can make sleep harder.

“We see the strongest increases in the number of these days with dangerous health conditions … all along the coast of the Mediterranean and in low-altitude river basins, such as the Po or the Danube,” he said.

The study defines a heatwave as at least 6 days in a row with temperatures among the hottest 10 percent of those recorded in the region for those dates. That means that a heatwave in Greece is hotter than one in Scandinavia.

Source: www.uk.reuters.com

In association with the Institute for Climate and Energy Security and C&C International, Financial Times is presenting the third annual Mediterranean Sustainable Energy Summit organised Under the Auspices of H.E. the President of the Hellenic Republic, Dr. Karolos Papoulias in Athens this week. 

This summit is defined by the region in which it is located, a potential hub for East-West sustainable energy developments and it is amongst the regions which will be hit hardest by climate change.

Taking place over two days, the comprehensive agenda will interpret the outcomes of the UN’s Copenhagen conference and the implications for future energy and environment policy development in the Mediterranean region.

Bringing together senior government officials, corporate leaders, financiers, academics and global experts, the forum will stimulate debate and dialogue on how to tackle the challenges that climate change presents in the Mediterranean and will discuss how we can grasp the opening to establish this region as the sustainable energy hub for Europe. Both are goals which can be achieved through the development of forward thinking climate and energy strategies and a partnership approach between the public and private sectors.

The agenda for the 2010 summit will include a blend of keynote addresses, expert panel discussions and in-depth case studies, designed to inform and update attendees on the policies, practices and business opportunities which will define the future climate and sustainable energy developments of the region.

Source: www.ftbusiness.com