Greek City loses its cool after Wildfire destroys forest
Pastor Dale Morgan
Greek City loses its cool after Wildfire destroys forest*
Helena Smith in Athens
Thursday July 12, 2007
The Guardian
The effects of a wildfire that destroyed prime forest on Mount Parnitha,
the Athens outcrop celebrated since antiquity, could take a century to
overcome.
As ecologists assessed the damage wrought by the blaze last month,
Athenians were told that the consequences would include even hotter
temperatures and poorer air quality in a city blighted by pollution.
"The forests of Mount Parnitha were the last natural cooling mechanism
left in Attica," said an Athens University professor, Matthaios
Santamouris. "Now that they have been replaced [by a scorched landscape]
the heat load will increase. Put simply, it is as if the number of cars
in Athens has doubled. The climate of our city will change."
The fire broke out as the capital sizzled in temperatures that climbed
to 46C (115F) last month. Public suspicion turned to arsonists, but the
government has been censured most. The failure of authorities to
coordinate efforts to put out the flames meant the fire raged for almost
six days, scattering cinders across the capital and spreading through
Parnitha's national park.
Greece's Socialist opposition leader, George Papandreou, described the
damage as "biblical".
As well as hundreds of plants endemic to Parnitha, dozens of protected
species of animals also died.
This week the government announced a €30m (£20m) package to protect the
area .