The longest period of winter rain has been going on for more than a month Franceand in February of this year became one of them Dryer months for the last 64 years for the country. However, according to the weather stations of the Athens Observatory, February is also dry in a number of regions of Greece, as it has been raining in Thessaloniki and Larisa for almost 30 days.

However, according to data for the last 10-15 years, there is not a decrease in precipitation, but some tendency to increase it. However, according to Kostas, director of research at the National Observatory of Athens Laguvarat the Athens Macedonian News Agency, scientists are worried that climate projections for the near future, that is, for the next 30 years, show that rainfall will decrease.

Facts about Greece

Although January was quite rainy, it did not continue into the following month. In particular, according to Mr. Laguvardo and according to the Athens Observatory, in Thessaloniki and Larisa, precipitation has been going on since January 26, and in Ioannina since February 3. At the same time Mr. Laguvar It is estimated that this winter will be one of the record days in which high temperatures have been recorded.

“In January, we had quite a lot of rain, they fell in many parts of Greece, but in February there was very little of it. The bad weather that affected us brought rain and snow in the eastern part of the country, but it left a large part of the country untouched, and as a result, problems began with some crops. It’s good that from March 1 we will have a lot of rain in our country,” he notes. RES-EMI Mister. Laguvar. Positive for Greece is the fact that according to the data for the last 10-15 years, the amount of precipitation has not decreased. On the contrary, a slight uptrend is fixed. At the same time, there are fewer rainy days, but more often. “Nevertheless, climate forecasts for the near future, that is, for the next 30 years, show that the decrease in precipitation will begin here as well. This worries us, although in our country we see that we have relatively good rainfall,” Mr. Laguvar and adds that the height of the rainfall is quite satisfactory, but it is important to analyze how this rain spreads over time.

For forester-hydrologistProfessor at the International University of Greece, Director of the ASSIST Laboratory and Head of Department at the UNESCO University, Dimitris Emmanuludi, it is more likely that Greece will be on the spectrum of water scarcity in the coming years if the necessary measures are not taken. “Our country is ruled by a dry and hot summer. At the same time, during the summer, the population of Greece doubles due to the arrival of tourists. The tripling of the population due to tourism and increasing demand for water, combined with the continued operation of industry during these months, creates an explosive trend in water demand, even with the lack of rainfall. All this causes great oncothermal empty, he notes. RES-EMI Mister. Emmanouloudis. To fill this gap, as Mr. Emmanouloudisneed to create water reserves during the winter months, when and where precipitation occurs. “This can be done using reservoirs of various types and methods. The second way is to reduce losses, as there are large losses of water and water for drinking and irrigation. In this direction, it is absolutely necessary to know the water footprint of every community, every island, every geographical division,” he emphasizes.

Under the microscope of scientists, water management is seen in relation to agricultural production, especially in parts of the country where there is less rainfall. “In places with little water, limited rainfall and high tourist demand, such as the Cyclades, Crete and Dodecanese, if you miss a few rainy months, you will have problems later,” Mr. explains. Laguvar.

The situation in France as of 2021 is worrying

According to him, it has been raining in France since January 21. Meteo France. The country is experiencing its driest winter in 64 years as February 2023 is expected to end with a rainfall deficit of more than 50%.

The situation in Western Europe has caused reflection and concern in the world scientific community, as after a very hot and dry summer there comes a rather warm winter, when the number of days when temperatures are at seasonally high levels has increased significantly.

However, according to Mr. Laguvardo France has been in an alarming meteorological situation and a drought since the summer of 2021. “Since August 2021, all months have seen less rainfall than usual except for 3 months. In the west, there were droughts, high temperatures and wildfires in the summer, unlike us here, who had relatively mild summers. This created a big problem,” Mr. Laguvar.

According to Mr. Laguvardo the current situation is due anticyclonic conditions that effectively prevent the passage of barometric lows. “This has resulted in parts of Western Europe and France in particular being characterized by relatively good weather, relatively high temperatures and lack of rainfall, which of course we see to a certain extent in Greece as well,” he says.

Prof. Dimitris speaks about the more general situation of climate deregulation in Europe and not only in recent years. Emmanouloudis. “I remember that in the summer we had a severe drought in Western Europe, at the same time we had floods in Saudi Arabia Arabia, fires in Siberia. All this sounds alien to the phenomena familiar to us and depending on the climatic zone that exists in each region. So there is a state of deregulation, a state of climate unrest,” he notes. According to Mr. Emmanuludi in the world scientific community, two trends have formed for the appearance of these weather conditions, however, for him, the only true one is global warming, which, as he emphasizes, affects not only the climate, but also dry heat which is created, dry heat conditions, i.e. lack of moisture in blastemic mantle. “It also creates the conditions for fires to start. They appear immediately and are intense and large, both in extent and in intensity,” he emphasizes.

^{Source: APE-MEB}