112 Climate Tone

Signals From Greece: The Link of Global Warming Levels with Climate Change in The Mediterranean Region

A Lecture by Prof. Prodromos Zanis

The presentation highlights the link between global warming and climate change in the Mediterranean region for the recent past and the projected future under different emission pathways while emphasis is also given on climate change signals for Greece. Instrumental observations reveal that global temperatures have risen by about 1.1 ° C since the pre-industrial period. Meanwhile, greenhouse gas concentrations have continued to rise, with increases of 49 % for CO2, 150% for CH4 and 23% for N2O with respect to preindustrial levels. Warming trends in the Mediterranean region are well above current global warming trends, with average annual temperatures being approximately 1.5°C higher than during the late 19th century. Similar warming signal is observed for Greece. Furthermore, over the surrounded countries of Mediterranean basin we observe changes in weather and climate extremes such as in the frequency and intensity of heat waves and droughts.

In future climate projections under different emission scenarios it is shown that with every increment in global warming levels, regional warming and drying in the Mediterranean are intensified, indicating that this region is one of the most sensitive and vulnerable areas of the Earth due to anthropogenic climate change. In view of this strong sensitivity of climate change in the Mediterranean region with global warming, they are anticipated several direct and indirect impacts in the coming decades, and new challenges for adaptation and mitigation arise. Following recent work that was carried out in the framework of CLIMPACT (https://climpact.gr), it is presented an updated multi-model assessment of projected future climate change over Greece (see for example Figure 1).

Prodromos Zanis

Prodromos Zanis is a Professor at the Department of Meteorology and Climatology, School of Geology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH). He received a degree in Physics in 1992 (AUTH), a M.Sc. in Atmospheric Sciences in 1994 from the University of East Anglia, UK and a Ph.D. degree in Natural Sciences in 1999 from the University of Bern, Switzerland.  

He is the Lead Author in chapter 6 of WGI AR6 of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), a member of the Scientific Committee of the Ministry for Environment and Energy of Greece for facing Climate Change, member of the National Committee facing Desertification of the Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food.

Commissioned by NEON for World Weather Network

Director NEON Elina Kountouri
Head of Projects & Exhibitions NEON Efi Syrigou 
Curated by: Fanis Kafantaris, Ioanna Mimi, Andrew Spyrou

Part of the weather station: Athens, Greece - find out more here.