The heatwave in Greece in 2007 in the Top 10 of Europe

The heatwave that has hit Greece in the summer of 2007, belongs to the…
ten worst heat waves have hit Europe after 1950, according to a research by scientists of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Union. The study provides -and warns that the next two decades, coming in worse heat waves, and can hit anywhere in Europe.
The researchers, led by Simon Russo, who made the relevant publication in the journal environmental research “Environmental Research Letters”, have developed a new index, which takes into account both the intensity and duration of heat waves. Based on this index (Heat Wave Magnitude Index daily-HWMId), produced the Top 10 of the worst european heat waves after the middle of the 20th century.
According to the estimates of scientists, the worst heatwave since 1950 -and with a difference from the second in Central Europe in 2003 – is the one that struck Russia in 2010, and killed tens of thousands of people. The heat of Greece in the 2007, which lasted 21 days, is located in the seventh position of the first ten.
The researchers estimate that within the next two decades will increase both the number and intensity of heat waves in Europe, mainly due to the continuous increase of anthropogenic “greenhouse gas”.
“Even if global average temperatures do not rise too much, we will see extreme heat waves, that will be more hot, more long-lasting and more frequent,” said Russo.
According to some estimates, there may be: five times as much or δεκαπλασιασμός of “hot” incidents. What is more certain is that the heat waves can affect any region of Europe, south, central or north. But scientists can not predict which countries will suffer more in the future.