Greece has suffered through a hellish heat summer. Now, experts want to give names and ratings to heat waves like those assigned to hurricanes and tropical storms.
The heat is often called a “silent killer” because, while not causing the same visible destruction that storms, tornadoes, or fires do, it is one of the more deadly weather forms in the world.
“Unlike other adverse weather events, extreme heat cannot be seen,” said Kostas Lagouvardos, research director at the National Observatory of Athens. The Guardian’s sister newspaper, The Observer. He said policymakers and the public need to be aware of the silent dangers posed by heat and that naming heat waves could be one way to do so.
“We believe people will be more prepared to face an upcoming weather event when the event has a name,” he said. “They will be more aware of the potential problems they can cause to their lives and their properties.”
The need has become surprisingly clear this month. Punishing temperatures in Greece have broken records, reaching three digits as the nation brews during its second major heat wave since June. In the central region of Ftiosi, the Athens National Observatory recorded the highest temperature in the country since registration began, at 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit). The Prime Minister of the nation called heat wave “The biggest ecological catastrophe in decades.”
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Extreme heat has sucked moisture from vegetation, causing sparks dozens of destructive forest fires that burned more than 250,000 acres. He flames it forced thousands to evacuate, killed three and left hundreds homeless. There are two fires still burning on the outskirts of the capital of Athens. But even in the event of absent forest fires, oppressive heat is also devastating in less visible ways, increasing the risk of heat-related illnesses, such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
While heat can be a silent killer, it is the clearest impact of the climate crisis. A United Nations main climate report published earlier this month, it was found that climate change has already done so doubled the odds of heat waves, and the risk will only increase in the coming decades. This points to the urgent need for adaptation, and the name of heat waves could be a way to help people grasp the risks involved.
Lagouvardos’ proposal is to name and classify any heat wave with predicted temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius for more than a week. He added that this process could be more difficult for heat than typhoons or winter storms, because a rating scale should include assessments of factors such as temperature distribution and population densities. But in other ways, it could be easier. Compared to storms, heat waves are easier to predict in terms of gravity and length.
World experts in climate science and medicine have long advocated that severe heat waves have names and classifications. Last year, some researchers, city governments, and nonprofits even formed the Extreme Heat Resistance Alliance, an initiative created for this express purpose.
If Greece complies with these recommendations, it will be the first nation in the world to do so. Last month, Athens became the first city in Europe to designate one heat officer find ways to adapt to the oppressive temperature of the city. The nominee, Eleni Myrivili, told the Observer that he would also support the denomination of the heat waves.
“The whole idea of making heat waves more visible by name and classification in terms of gravity would be a turning point,” he said.