Measures to tackle drought in Western Greece have begun to take the Region of Western Greece and the Physics Lab of the University of Patras atmosphere, in the framework of the European project, “Germ of Life – Digital Drought Risk Management”.
With this project, funded by the “Interreg Euro-Med” program and national resources, it can, as reported, implement strategies for the mitigation of drought, in order to restore the ecosystem balance in Mediterranean European countries.
As Athenian -Macedonian News Agency said, Professor of the Athanasios Argyriou Physics Laboratory, who is also the coordinator of the “Germ of Life” project, “We are running in collaboration with the Region We manage their appearance better. “
The objectives of the program were presented by Athanasios Argyriou during a conference, entitled “Civil Protection and Local Government” organized in Patras, in the framework of the project, by Achaia Vice -Mayor Fokion Zaimis. As the professor said, “the program, which includes ten partners from six European Mediterranean countries, is piloted in Greece and specifically in the Aegialia region, while being tested in Italy, Spain and Portugal at the same time.”
“Our goal”, according to Athanasios Argyriou, “is to have sophisticated tools with the help of artificial intelligence, which will obviously be available to civil protection, using information provided by the European ‘Copernicus’ land and ground stations.”
Pilot stations
“Already,” he continued, “we have installed a first pilot station in Aegialia since November and are two more stations in the same area.”
“Our purpose,” he points out, “is to create a network of stations in the Aegialia area, where meteorological data will be able to provide a timely prognosis of drought so that growers can take the necessary measures, with the aim of damage to production, if not reset, at least.”
“With the help of the station,” he adds, “in addition to the classic measurements, specific radiation measurements are emitted by the plants, as well as radiation that receives the soil from space, to compare satellite data, always aiming to better prognosis.”
Indeed, as he characteristically stated, “the data is already being used by the region, where there is a software that depicts real -time the measurements that are also available to the region’s cultivators.”
Concerning Aegialia’s choice for the stations, Athanasios Argyriou said that “in the summer of 2024 we had a significant impact on agricultural production due to drought and as members of the Aegean ‘Oenoxenia’ network informed us, almost 50% of the production of vineyards was destroyed.
The extreme weather events
Speaking about extreme weather events, Athanasios Argyriou noted that “they are reinforced because of anthropogenic climate change”, adding that “anthropogenic intervention differs from natural climate change in the fact that phenomena are evolving much faster.”
At the same time, the professor stresses that “Western Greece is recorded by climate change, because warm and dry summers favor the appearance of drought and therefore we have extensive forest fires”, adding:
“Mild and wet winters now have more unstable behavior, which can lead to sudden floods. After all, it has now been scientifically documented that climate change in specific areas of the globe, which we all know is generally increasing average temperature, can also lead to extreme low temperatures. And this is derived from documented thermodynamic analysis.
Still, the arid areas are more sensitive to changes in rain morphs, that is, in the way the rain falls.
Specifically, the coastal areas are exposed to the rise of sea level, which are not so important at present, but these areas are mainly exposed to the ever -increasing intensity of storms. “
“Janus” and “Daniel”
“Unfortunately” as he points out, “such examples have a lot in our area starting in recent years from the Mediterranean cyclone ‘Ianos’, which in 2020 hit many areas of Western Greece and especially the Ionian Sea islands causing great damage.”
“In 2023,” he continues, “we had heatwaves, and I mention that in July the temperatures approached 38 degrees Celsius, while about 1/4 of the temperatures of that month were above 31 degrees Celsius.”
He also emphasizes that “the same year, due to the excessive heat of summer, the Mediterranean cyclone ‘Daniel’ was also replied, which was created on the northern coast of Africa, but approached our area where they were again affected by the Ionian islands, while Western Greece and Western Greece, so -called ‘eye’ of the cyclone. “
“But if,” he continues, “the ‘Daniel’ orbit was a little different, we might have experienced situations similar to those experienced by Thessaly.”
Concerning the drought of 2024, Athanasios Argyriou notes that “we had one of the longest -running heat -mannered pan -European” and adds:
“In particular, we had 16 consecutive days with a maximum daily temperature of 39.1 degrees Celsius. This has resulted in a significant reduction in aquatic stocks and characteristics I mention the revelation of the village of Potios that was immersed in the artificial lake of Mornos. “
The “map” of the climate
Extreme weather events, according to the professor, “also occur in western Greece, with variations in each region, taking into account that the climate of the area is varied, that is, not stable in all areas” and continues::
“Specifically the Mediterranean climate prevails, but there are also a pockets of colder and drier conditions, where they depend significantly on the altitude and distance from the coastline. Therefore, the prevailing climate is the warm Mediterranean, which has relatively dry and warm summers and relatively rainy winters.
We find this in low altitude areas and near the sea, as well as in the urban centers of Agrinio, Patras, Pyrgos and is mainly determined by the proximity of these areas with the Ionian Sea.
However, in the mountainous areas the climate is cold and we find it at high altitudes of Achaia and Aitoloakarnania. Its characteristics are lower temperatures and usually snowfall in winter, despite the fact that in recent years it has been reduced. But we also have the category of alpine climate at very high altitudes, namely near Panachaic Mount and Mount Erymanthos, in Achaia.
There is also another category of arid areas, that is, a warm climate with limited rainfall, and this is mainly in the hinterland of Western Greece and mainly in areas where there are natural obstacles. That is, the rain falls before obstacles due to thermodynamic processes. There, we have a lower rain and much higher temperatures. Therefore, all this variety of climates is vulnerable to climate change. “