Paleoclimatology

The problems posed by climate change are being experienced first-hand in Greece, with scientists raising the alarm that the central region of Thessaly is at risk of desertification.

Three alpine lakes and two coastal lagoons in Greece underwent coring in late May as scientists anticipate that they could offer valuable insights into the climate and environment of Southeastern Europe over the past 5,000 years.

The Eastern Mediterranean and Greece run the risk of desertification over coming decades according to climate experts who spoke to Kathimerini on the occasion of World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought on Monday.

The global increase in non-arable land poses a considerable threat and Turkey is also affected by the problem, Forestry and Waterworks Minister Veysel Ero?lu warned on July 13. 

A team of geologists from the Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca is conducting a research project that uses guano deposits in several Romanian caves, some of them more than 10,000 years old, to determine the climate changes occurred in various geological periods.

Photo credit: (c) Babes-Bolyai University project website