Greece sits at the center of the climate threat, with scientists warning that the extreme heat waves sweeping the rest of Europe and the Balkans will eventually strike the country with the same intensity. Athanasios Argyriou, a physics professor at the University of Patras and researcher at its Atmospheric Physics Laboratory, told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency that Greece’s location in the Eastern Mediterranean makes it especially vulnerable to extreme temperatures.
The threat is underscored by official data: a joint report from Europe’s Copernicus program and the World Meteorological Organization shows Europe warming twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s. Argyriou said current science makes clear these heat waves will not only recur, but become more frequent, longer, and more severe, with Southern Europe and the Mediterranean basin acting as an ideal greenhouse for them.
Why heat waves keep coming one after another
The extreme temperatures result from a combination of atmospheric patterns and climate change, centered on so-called heat domes, high pressure systems that trap air and push it down from the upper atmosphere, compressing and overheating it. Combined with strong summer sun, clear skies, and weak winds, this sends temperatures soaring, especially when hot air masses arrive from North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula and dry ground can no longer cool the air through evaporation.
Argyriou noted these heat domes can stay in place for days or return quickly to the same region, meaning each new wave often lands on ground and air already scorched by the last one, breaking records more easily.
A costly history
Europe has faced deadly heat waves before, including 2003, 2010 in Russia, and 2017, 2019, 2022, and 2023, with 2023 hitting the Mediterranean and Greece hard. A Nature Medicine study estimated roughly 61,672 heat-related deaths in Europe in summer 2022 alone, and Copernicus confirms the 2003, 2010, and 2022 heat waves each killed tens of thousands of people.
Greece’s highest-risk regions
Argyriou identified inland plains and enclosed basins as most vulnerable, including Thessaly, central and eastern Macedonia, Thrace, Boeotia, eastern Central Greece, Attica, and parts of the Peloponnese.
He singled out Athens and Thessaloniki, where the urban heat island effect keeps nighttime temperatures unbearable. Coastal areas and islands see lower peak temperatures thanks to the sea, but high humidity can make heat feel worse when there’s no wind.
What science can and can’t do
Argyriou said meteorology can’t stop a heat wave, but its biggest contribution is early, accurate forecasting of heat waves and drought, which lets authorities activate prevention plans, inform the public, and eventually push for better climate-conscious urban planning.
