Climate change: Greece heading for hottest June on record

The climate crisis is here, with record temperatures in many cases accompanied by extreme events that are becoming more severe and more likely.

Since June 2023, the heat record has continued to be broken every month.

In Greece, this year’s June is expected to be the warmest June on record, judging by the temperatures recorded so far this month across the country.

“Long-term persistence of high temperatures is of great concern to us.”

As IEPVA/EAA Research Director, Dr. Kostas Lagouvardos first estimate is that June 2024 “will be the hottest overall we’ve seen”, although a final decision will be made by the end of the month.

Mr. According to Laquartos, according to the first estimate, it is definitely the hottest June, the hottest period ever in average values, he explains that temperatures are particularly high in both maximum values ​​and minimum values. .

Continuous heat stress

This is Mr. According to LaGuertos, it creates continuous heat stress in people. “It’s much worse than a 3-4 day heat wave and prices being normal or slightly above normal for the rest of the day with typical, significant upward deviations,” he pointed out to APE-MPE. .

In the first half of 2024, except for May, prices for the season will remain above normal for the rest of the months. “From July 2023, temperatures for the season were above normal in all parts of the country, except for May, which was slightly below normal in northern and central Greece. Eastern Styria, the Peloponnese and Crete experienced 12 consecutive months of above-normal temperatures, with no winter.” , Mr. Lacovertos notes, and a shift seems to be coalescing. “The long-term persistence of high temperatures worries us a lot,” he underlines.

Heatwave conditions were recorded in June 2007 and 2019, but none of the values ​​recorded this year averaged out.

“In 2007, in Athens, in the center, in Thisio, a temperature of 44.8 degrees was recorded. But it was a short period of a few days. But it was not particularly hot for a month”, Mr. LaGuertos says higher temperatures are expected next week as well.

Very high temperatures – danger to forests

“What is significant is that temperatures have been very high since the beginning of the month. As our data shows, we will continue to experience high temperatures. We will probably see very high temperatures in the east next week, without the meltemia,” said Mr. Lacovertos notes.

At the same time, rainfall is particularly low in June this year, according to data so far, making June 2024 not only the hottest but also the driest month. According to scientists, the hot-dry-air phenomenon prevails during this period due to strong winds. At the same time, the flammability of dead fuel in forests is a tremendous fact, which Mr. As Laquartos explains, that makes the situation even more difficult.

“The moisture content of dead fuel is very low,” he points out.

At the end of March, the UN had already warned that there was a “high probability” of record temperatures in 2024, while 2023 would complete a decade of record heat, pushing the Earth “to the brink”.

High sea surface temperatures

Meanwhile, higher sea surface temperature values ​​are expected in the Mediterranean and mainly in the eastern Mediterranean by mid-June 2024, according to ClimateBook.gr. In particular, in the eastern Mediterranean, sea temperatures are higher than the typical for the season with temperature deviations of 2–3 °C, while the largest positive deviations are observed in parts of the Aegean Sea. and in the Levant Sea.

Image from Climate Book

“Nearly all of the eastern Mediterranean (except the Ionian Sea) and the Black Sea are experiencing Category 1 ocean warming conditions, while the Libyan Sea and the Levant Sea are experiencing Category 2 and 3 ocean warming,” notes the climate book.

Record temperature

According to the same source, many parts of the Northern Hemisphere, especially North Africa in the Middle East and parts of Asia, recorded very high temperatures at the end of the 2nd decade of June 2024.

On June 19, 2024, temperatures even above 51°C were recorded in the Middle East, particularly in countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq.

It is noteworthy that more than 1,300 people have died due to extremely high temperatures during the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

In North Africa, Algeria recorded temperatures exceeding 49 degrees Celsius in June.