Tourists and residents seek shade as temperatures soar in Athens to over 40 deg C
A tourist holding an umbrella to protect herself from the sun at the Acropolis hill archaeological site, in Athens, Greece, on June 27. PHOTO: REUTERS
Tourists resting in the shade of a tree during their visit to the Parthenon temple in Athens on June 27. PHOTO: REUTERS
Tourists and residents seek shade as temperatures soar in Athens to over 40 deg C
ATHENS - Tourists visiting the Acropolis used umbrellas and fans to protect themselves, while locals retreated indoors, as temperatures over 40 deg C gripped the Greek capital on June 27.
Situated at Europe's southernmost tip in the Mediterranean Sea, Greece has always had hot and dry summers.
But in recent years, climate change has led to longer and more severe heatwaves, as well as wildfires and destructive floods.
On June 27, authorities banned outdoor activities for builders and delivery staff from 9am till 2pm and advised against unnecessary travel.
Workers had the option of switching to remote working to avoid possible heat exhaustion, while air-conditioned facilities were provided for the elderly.
'We have a really nice temperature in here,' 80-year-old Mrs Maro Marneri said at a community centre in Athens.
Tourists were less comfortable.
'We are all from Pennsylvania and we have never really experienced a heatwave like this before,' Ms Antonia Lasen told Reuters.
'At the Acropolis, we were all very hot and it was a little bit slippery to walk up, and the combination of the heat and the marble, I think it was hotter because of the cement, it was like a cement jungle almost, which is very hot.' REUTERS
Elderly people sheltering from the heat on June 27, at a municipal cooling centre in Athens.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Find out more about climate change and how it could affect you on the ST microsite here.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
26 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Europe bakes in summer's first heatwave as continent warms
A tourist holds an umbrella to protect from the sun during her visit at the Parthenon temple atop the Acropolis hill in Athens, on June 27. PHOTO: REUTERS MARSEILLE - Southern Europeans braced on June 28 for the first heatwave of the northern hemisphere summer, as climate change pushes thermometers on the world's fastest-warming continent increasingly into the red. Temperatures are set to rise to 37 deg C in Rome, driving the Eternal City's many tourists and pilgrims to the Vatican alike towards the Italian capital's 2,500 public fountains for refreshment. With residents of the southern French port city of Marseille expected to have to cope with temperatures flirting with 40 deg C, authorities in city ordered public swimming pools to be made free of charge to help residents beat the Mediterranean heat. Two-thirds of Portugal will be on high alert on June 29 for extreme heat and forest fires, with 42 deg C expected in the capital Lisbon, while visitors to – and protesters against – Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos's June 27 wedding in Venice likewise sweltered under the summer sun. 'There is no wind, a lot of humidity, we are sweating, and I'm suffocating at night,' Ms Alejandra Echeverria, a 40-year-old Mexican tourist to Venice, told AFP on June 28. 'I try not to think about it, but I drink a lot of water and never stay still, because that's when you get sunstroke,' Ms Sriane Mina, an Italian student, told AFP on June 27. Scientists have long warned that humanity's burning of fossil fuels is heating up the world with disastrous consequences for the environment, with Europe's ever-hotter and increasingly common blistering summer heatwaves a direct result of that warming. The heatwave is forecast to become even more intense on June 29. Spain, which has in past years seen a series of deadly summer blazes ravaging the Iberian peninsula, is expecting peak temperatures in excess of 40 deg C across most of the country. Outdoor work ban According to the Spanish meteorological agency, temperatures may even register 42 deg C in some areas, including the Guadalquivir, Guadiana, and Tagus regions. The past three years have been the hottest in Spain's history. With peaks of 39 deg C expected in Naples and Palermo, Sicily has ordered a ban on outdoor work in the hottest hours of the day, as has the Liguria region in northern Italy. The country's trade unions are campaigning to extend the measure to other parts of the country. In Nice, on the French Riviera, nearly 250 fans have been distributed to schools over the past two weeks to help cope with the heat. The heatwave comes hot on the heels of a series of tumbling records for extreme heat, including Europe's hottest March ever, according to the EU's Copernicus climate monitor. As a result of the planet's warming, extreme weather events including hurricanes, droughts, floods and heatwaves like this weekend's have become more frequent and intense, scientists warn. By some estimates 2024, the hottest year in recorded history so far, saw worldwide disasters that cost more than US$300 billion (S$383 billion). AFP Find out more about climate change and how it could affect you on the ST microsite here.
Straits Times
5 hours ago
- Straits Times
Heavy rain hits China's flood-stricken Guizhou for second time in a week
SHANGHAI - Heavy rain struck China's southwestern Guizhou province again on Saturday, half-submerging the already flood-stricken riverside city of Rongjiang for a second time this week and prompting the evacuation of residents to higher ground. Located at the confluence of three rivers and home to 300,000 residents, Rongjiang was inundated earlier this week by record downpours that left six dead and forced more than 80,000 people to flee their homes. The amount of rain that fell over 72 hours was double the city's average for June. In response to the new round of flooding, authorities raised the city's flood emergency response level to the highest level on Saturday. The benchmark hydrological station on one of the rivers estimated that the peak water level would hit 253.50 metres (832 ft) at around 5 p.m. (0900 GMT), exceeding the safety threshold by 2 metres, state broadcaster CCTV said. Earlier this week, the peak water level reached 256.7 metres, the highest since 1954, the Guizhou provincial government said in a statement to Reuters on Friday, blaming "the extreme climate" for the flooding. The floods in southwest China are set to hit local economies. Rongjiang was removed from the national poverty list in 2020. It then saw an unexpected tourism boom after a local soccer league nicknamed "Village Super League" became a social media sensation, attracting thousands of fans and tourists. On Tuesday, the soccer pitch was up to seven metres under water. China has battled with summer floods for millennia, but some scientists say climate change is resulting in heavier and more frequent rain. Massive flooding could set off unforeseen "black swan" events with dire consequences, such as dam collapses, Chinese officials say. In southern China over the past two days, 13 major rivers in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Hainan were hit by storms and had risen above their warning levels, CCTV reported, citing the Ministry of Water Resources on Saturday. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Business Times
8 hours ago
- Business Times
Flood-hit China expands social security net as extreme rain takes toll
[BEIJING] China has expanded the economic safeguards for segments of its population affected by flood control schemes in times of extreme rainfall, including pledges of direct compensation from the central government and payments for livestock losses. In China, diverting flood-waters to areas next to rivers is a major step in managing downstream flooding. As extreme rainfall grows in frequency, China is increasingly utilising such areas, some of which have been unused until now and have been populated by farms, croplands and even residential buildings, stoking social tensions. According to revised rules on compensation related to flood diversions released late on Friday (Jun 27), the central government will now bear 70 per cent of all compensation funds, with local governments responsible for the rest. Previously, the ratio was to be decided based on actual economic losses and the fiscal situation of local governments. Livestock and poultry that cannot be relocated in time before the arrival of diverted flood-waters will also be included in the compensation scheme for the first time. Previously, only the loss of working animals could be claimed for compensation. In the summer of 2023, almost one million people in Hebei, a province on the doorstep of Beijing, were relocated after record rain forced authorities to divert water from swollen rivers to some populated areas for storage, triggering anger over the homes and farms sacrificed to save the Chinese capital. China currently has 98 designated flood diversion areas spanning major river basins including the Yangtze River basin, home to a third of the country's population. During the 2023 Hebei floods, eight flood storage areas were used. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 2 pm Lifestyle Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself. Sign Up Sign Up Since the start of the East Asia monsoon in early June, precipitation in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze has been up to two times higher than usual, officials from the China Meterological Administration told reporters on Friday. In other parts of China, daily rainfall measured by 30 meteorological stations in provinces such as Hubei and Guizhou broke records for the month of June, they said. Guizhou was the focal point of China's flood alleviation efforts this week, with one of its cities hit by flooding on a scale that meteorologists said could only happen once in 50 years, and at a speed that shocked its 300,000 residents. That prompted Beijing to issue pledges on Thursday to move vulnerable populations and industries to low-flood areas and allocate more space for flood diversion. REUTERS
