High concentrations of Sahara dust and high temperatures created a suffocating atmosphere in Greece on Thursday, especially in the south.
In many areas including capital Athens the sky was extremely “foggy” with a blur sun due to the high concentration of transported Sahara dust particles.
According to Star TV [an unknown] number of people visited the hospitals in Athens as they felt unwell.
Central Aitoloakarnania, western Greece via @Twr_Gwylanod
According to records of the air quality station of meteo service of the National Observatory of Athens, high concentrations of Saharan dust were recorded in Rethymno on the island of Crete at midday Thursday, March 28, 2024.
Chania, Crete via zapranews.gr
As it can be seen in the graph below, the concentrations of PM10 particles exceeded 180 μg/m³ at 12:30 and since then they have been gradually decreasing, as expected and based on the prognostic data of the DUST/METEO dust transport model of the National Observatory of Athens.
The Medical Association of Piraeus had recommended especially vulnerable groups of people to avoid outdoors activities and to use a protective mask.
“High concentration of African dust in combination with the intense traffic congestion and the moderate concentration of P10 microparticles in the air, can cause an increase in hospital admissions with respiratory and cardiac problems, childhood asthma or even arrhythmia>” the Association said in a statement.
A similar announcement was issued by the Association of Pneumologists.
By Thursday afternoon, the Sahara dust started to recede as the wind turned from south to north-west, pushing the dust towards Turkey and Cyprus.
Thus, the quality of the atmospheric air will improve considerably tomorrow, Friday and also during the weekend, meteorologist Klearchos Marousakis told Open TV.
However, “this will not last long, as from Sunday [March 31] and mainly at the beginning of next week, a new milder episode of African dust will affect our region”, he pointed out.
Director of research at the Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development at the National Observatory, Dr. Kostas Lagouvardos, described the phenomenon as “quite frequent.”
“This is a phenomenon that occurs these months. It is not a paradox that it happens in March, it is usually accompanied by southerly winds and an increased temperature,” Lagouvardos said.”
He recalled that “five years ago we had a much bigger one in Crete. It is a phenomenon that we see quite often now. How much its frequency has increased we can’t say because we don’t have long-ago measurements to do that. But it is an important environmental problem because it affects many people, especially when the concentrations are high on the ground.”