D. Sariyannis: “We expect African dust in mid-May”

Environmental engineering professor Demosthenes Saryyannis said: “We expect to see a repeat of African dust in mid-May.” In addition, in a conversation with ERT, he noted that “wind flows are changing as the climate changes. Next autumn we will see the arrival of African dust again.”

According to his estimates: “Starting from May, things will be much better. We'll have another episode of African dust next fall.” He highlighted the increase in the frequency of African dust, as well as the duration of the episode and the volume of particles: “This is new evidence related to climate change.”

He noted: “We will have to adapt to the dust, which means the national health system will also have to be prepared to deal with acute cases of people who have problems.”

The alarming point is the fact that “This burden intermittently adds to the particulate matter burden that we already have in the major urban centers of Greece, for example Athens, Thessaloniki, Volos, Ioannina, where the air quality is already not very good in terms of particulate matter. Therefore mWe must take both adaptive action to ensure we are prepared to cope with such acute episodes and, on the other hand, do the essential work of truly preventative action to reduce particulate pollution in our cities. So that when the wave comes from Africa, we will not calm down against the already high background of air pollution.”

Athens news previously reportedthat Greek scientists carried out a chemical analysis of dust particles that came from the Sahara in the third decade of April.

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