Extreme temperatures in Greece during 2007: Could this be a 'returnto the future'?

摘要

This paper presents an investigation into the recordbreaking winter and summer maximum and minimumtemperatures of 2007 across the Greek region. Threesummer heat waves were analysed representing thehighest maximum temperatures of the last six to sevendecades. Winter minimum temperatures (mainly duringJanuary) were also found to be exceptionally high and theywere proven to be more "statistically extreme" than thesummer maxima. During the heat waves, an extendedhorizontal transfer of warm air masses from northern Africawas detected. The comparison of the results with futureprojections derived from a regional climate model revealedthat these temperature conditions are likely to occur morethan 50% of the time by the end of the 21st century.