As Athens named an official Heat Officer when temperatures soared near 118 degrees in some places during the hottest summer on record, a scientist in Greece said it's time to put names on heatwaves, like hurricanes.
Wildfires that scorched large parts of the country during the brutal heatwave and the scientific experts said it showed that climate change is getting worse, and that it may already be too late to prevent further damage as government plans to wean off coal and carbon are decades off.
Dr. Kostas Lagouvardos, research director, National Observatory, Athens told the British newspaper The Observer, “It is clear the extreme heat has been underestimated,” and needs to be identified better to ward off dangers.
We believe people will be more prepared to face an upcoming weather event when the event has a name. They’ll become more aware of the possible problems it could cause to their lives and to their properties … heatwaves cause a lot of deaths; they don’t make noise and they may not be visible but they’re a silent killer,” Lagouvardos said.