Geology 9: Greece: April 2017

Greece is made up of about six thousand small islands divided into seven groups, though only two hundred and twenty seven of them are actually inhabited. With all these smaller islands, the country of Greece has over 16,000 kilometers, or 9,941 miles worth of coastline. (1) There are also over 1,200 beaches found on the Greek coastlines, which attract thousands of tourists annually, increasing the risk of danger with coastal hazards.

(Map of Greece and satellite image of Greece)

One of coastal hazard in risk of occurring in Greece is coastal floods because of the rising sea levels caused by climate change. The Mediterranean Sea in particular has been rising at a rate of 1.2-1.5 millimeters a year before 1960 then lowering to 1.3 millimeters a year after that. However the newest study from satellite altimetry showed the average could rise up to 5 millimeters per decade. (2) However even that being said, the risk is not as high as one would expect because Greece's tidal ranges are really quite small given the region of the world it is in. The reason this could be an issue however is that if coastal flooding were to occur, it would affect the 80% of Greece's industrial activities that occur on the coasts and 90% of touristic and recreational activities. (3)

Greece also experiences coastal erosion because of the constant wave actions occurring the smaller islands. Coastal erosion alone is not the only issue as it is damaging the large ecosystems that reside in marine parts of Greece, as well as causing the people living in coastal cities to become displaced as it become worse. (4) There is also known cliff erosion in Greece, mostly in the eastern part of the North Aegean sea coast, as well as near the city of Alexandroupolis. The cliff erosion in this area has been found to cause deposition of sediment into the ocean and coast. (5)

In terms of coastal and cliff erosion, Greece unfortunately does not have much in the form of coordinated laws or mitigation strategies put into place because it is caused by a natural processes, only encouraging those living in Greece to opt to move more inland instead. If anything, the Ministry of the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works, the Ministry of Mercantile Marine and the Ministry of Economy and Finance fund coastal projects and are in charge of spatial planning for residential and commercial development. (6)

Greece luckily does have mitigation strategies for coastal flooding, relying heavily on the Water Framework Directive, and on its assessment and management of flood risks. They have implemented a number of measure such as land usage regulations, insurance, emergency measures, and damage assessment. They have also developed flood risk and hazard maps to help plan potential new developments accordingly, as well as emergency routes. There are altimeters in place that calculate ocean levels that serve as warnings for the emergency services. (7)

Sources:
Image Source 1: http://www.greek-islands.us/map-greece/

Image Source 2: http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Aegean_Islands

Source 1: http://www.visitgreece.gr/en/greek_islandsSource

Source 2: http://www.climatechangepost.com/greece/coastal-floods/

Source
3: https://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/sites/maritimeaffairs/files/docs/body/greece_climate_change_en.pdf

Source 4: http://coastalerosionf.blogspot.com/2010/11/coastal-erosion-of-greece.html?m=1

Source 5: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/16849142/

Source 6: https://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/sites/maritimeaffairs/files/docs/body/greece_climate_change_en.pdf

Source 7: http://ec.europa.eu/ourcoast/print.cfm?articleID=344

I have decided to stick with blogging with my usual country of Greece because I have truly been enjoying learning about this country. Along with events like earthquakes and volcanoes, Greece also has the risk over extreme weather hazards such as tornadoes, storms, heat waves, etcetera. This week, the extreme weather event I have chosen for Greece is the tornado.

A tornado is defined as "a violent rotating column of air pendant from cumulonimbus cloud and nearly always observable as a funnel cloud or tuba" (1) Though tornadoes are often associated as happening primarily in the Mid West region of the United States, they also occur in Greece, in smaller frequency.

(Image 1)

As shown in the image above, tornadoes in Greece tend to stick around the coasts, many of which occurring in the Greek island of Crete. The image also shows the waterspout activity in Greece. Waterspouts are "a funnel-shaped or tubular portion of a cloud over the ocean or other body of water that, laden with mist and spray, resembles a solid column of water reaching upward to the cloud from which it hangs" (2) Waterspouts often occur in Greece because it is surrounded by water almost completely. In the twentieth century, there were only thirty three occurrences of tornadoes/waterspouts, none of which were too destructive or deadly. (3) However that being said, Greece has also experienced tornadoes in the twenty first century, some of which having caused damage and destruction around some cities. For example, there was a tornado that tore through the city of Xanthi in Greece in June of 2016. It destroyed crops and breeding units, as well as swept as cars and knocked trees into the roads. (4)