Interview with Korina Georgiou

The European south is on fire both from the extreme temperatures and from the forest fires that leave their destructive imprint. The US space agency is even warning that the unbearable heat this year is just a small taste of what’s to come in 2024. The Director of the “Copernicus” Climate Change Agency, Carlo Buodembo, spoke exclusively to SKAI and Korina Georgiou, speaking of a new world we live in, warning that what today looks like an extreme heat wave, in about 20 to 30 years will be remembered as a relatively normal, if not chilly, summer.

Full interview here:

K.G. : K. Buodebo thanks for joining us as we search for more answers about extreme weather. Let me start with the aggressive fires that Greece has been fighting for the last few days and the Copernicus observatory has been activated to immediately map the burning areas since Monday.

Carlo Buodebo: A forest fire produces pollutants, primarily soot, which can affect air quality in surrounding areas. From the satellites you can already see the smoke starting from areas around Athens and moving towards the southwest of the Peloponnese. Unfortunately, we will almost certainly see more fires. The information we have so far suggests that there is a peak of danger at this time, but things will probably get better in August.

K.G.: We saw China record an unprecedented temperature of 52.2 degrees Celsius, Death Valley in California could break the record of 56.5 degrees, the heatwave is intensifying in Southern Europe and Greece is expecting a new and more aggressive heat wave. What the future holds;

Carlo Buodebo: Last June was by far the hottest on record. After this June we recorded globally the hottest day on record in early July. We basically had two such days in a row and then had the hottest week on record and now we’re on the hottest two week stretch. All indications are that this July may be the warmest on record. It’s a new world we’re living in, we’re in uncharted territory and unfortunately it’s not something we’ll be done with once and for all. Due to a warming climate, we expect this type of heat wave to become more common, more intense and longer lasting.

K.G. : Are heat waves the new normal?

Carlo Buodebo: If we don’t focus on this year and look to the future, what today looks like an extreme heat wave, what we are experiencing now, in about 20 to 30 years will be remembered as a relatively normal, if not chilly, summer. So it is a new normal in the sense that this is the beginning of a world that will continue to warm continuously.

K.G.: 48.8 degrees Celsius is a record temperature held by Sicily since 2021 and is considered the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe. Do you think we might see this record broken?

Carlo Buodebo: Taking into account the information we have so far it is a very likely scenario to reach similar levels, so it is possible to break this level. Extreme temperatures will rise across Europe, not only in Greece, but also in Italy, Spain, Germany, everywhere the temperature will rise in the future. If you look at the climate problem it is a problem that accumulates over time. A Chinese proverb comes to mind that says “When is the best time to plant a tree?” And the answer is “yesterday”. “What’s the next best time to plant a tree? It’s today!”.