Statistical assessment of changes in climate extremes over Greece (1955–2002)

Abstract

This article focuses on extreme events of high and low temperatures and precipitation and their amplitude and frequency changes over the last 50 years in Greece. Sixteen climate indices have been calculated and their trends were analysed to identify possible changes over a network of measurement stations covering the region quite homogeneously. Furthermore, the changes in the probability distribution of the indices were examined. In addition, we analyzed the temporal evolution of the amplitude and frequency of extreme events through the parameters of extreme value distribution. The temporal stability of the fitted distributions is examined and the spatial distribution of their trend as well as the changes in the 5-year return levels is investigated.Half of the examined climatic indices exhibit significant regional trend; most of them are sole functions of minimum temperature or precipitation. A shift was found in the tail distribution of the peak minimum temperatures, with the 5-year return value in the last quartile of the twientieth century to be equal to the 7-year return value in the previous quartile. Warming was also apparent for the maximum temperature, mainly in the summer months, but of smaller magnitude. Total precipitation shifted towards drier climate over the domain while extreme rainfall events exhibit increased variability without following any coherent regional pattern. The changes in the peak temperature extremes are most sensitive to the changes in the location of the distribution of annual extremes. Changes in the precipitation extremes are associated with changes in both the scale and location of the fitted distribution. The highest range of change was found for the scale parameter for both temperature and precipitation extremes, pointing out that the most influenced factor is the interannual variability of the extremes.

Climatic characteristics of summer human thermal discomfort in Athens and its connection to atmospheric circulation

“…The increase in human thermal dis- comfort noted here for Athens after the early 1980s matches with similar trends during the same period found by others either for mean summer air temperature or for the frequency of extreme high temperature events, which have been reported to be a result of the predominance of warmer air masses in the lower troposphere over the southern Balkans and the intensification of urbanization in the city of Athens over recent years (e.g. see Philandras et al, 1999;Lolis et al, 2002;Kioutsioukis et al, 2010;Founda, 2011).…”

Трендови Индекса Екстремних Температура У Босни И Херцеговини ‒ Примјер Мостара

“…The upward/downward trends in warm/cold temperature indices have already been determined by numerous studies all over the Mediterranean region (Fioravanti, G. et al, 2016;Kioutsioukis, I. et al, 2010;Varfi, M. S. et al, 2009;Kostopoulou, E. & Jones, P. D., 2005;Fernández-Montes, S. & Rodrigo, F. S., 2012;Fonseca, D. et al, 2016;Kenawy, A. E. et al, 2011;Espirito Santo, F. et al, 2014). Studies in the Mediterranean and Submediterranean part of the Southeast Europe where Bosnia and Herzegovina is located have also reported an increase in warm temperature indices and a decrease in cold ones, thus indicating the warming of climate system during ТАТЈАНА ПОПОВ, СЛОБОДАН ГЊАТО И ГОРАН ТРБИЋ TATJANA POPOV, SLOBODAN GNJATO AND GORAN TRBIĆ вијека и на почетку 21. вијека (Branković, Č. et al, 2013;Zaninovic, K. & Cindric, K., 2014;Burić, D. et al, 2014;Burić, D. et al, 2015).…”

“…Позитивни/негативни трендови топлих/ хладних температурних индекса већ су утврђени бројним студијама широм региона Медитерана (Fioravanti, G. et al, 2016;Kioutsioukis, I. et al, 2010;Varfi, M. S. et al, 2009;Kostopoulou, E. & Jones, P. D., 2005;Fernández-Montes, S. & Rodrigo, F. S., 2012;Fonseca, D. et al, 2016;Kenawy, A. E. et al, 2011;Espirito Santo, F. et al, 2014). Истраживања у медитеранском и субмедитеранском дијелу југоисточне Европе, гдје се налази Босна и Херцеговина, утврдила су пораст топлих температурних индекса и смањење хладних, што указује на загријавање климатског система током друге половине 20. trends in extreme temperature indices have also been found in Europe (Klein Tank, A. M. G. & Können, G. P., 2003;Andrade, C. et al, 2012;Dankers, R. & Hiederer, R., 2008).…”

Evolution des pluies extrêmes dans le bassin du Chéliff (Algérie) au cours des 40 dernières années 1971–2010

“…Kioutsioukis et al (2010) ont analysé les pluies extrêmes en Grèce sur la période 1955-2002 et ont trouvé une baisse de la fréquence des jours de pluie et de leur intensité. Alpert et al (2002) ont montré une augmentation des pluies journalières extrêmes en Italie, en Espagne et Chypre durant la période 1951-1995 associée à une diminution des pluies totales annuelles.…”