Water quantity, quality testing Europeans
Around 5% of Greece’s population lives in riparian areas with a heightened risk of flooding, compared to 12% of the European population, according to the latest research by the European Environment Agency (EEA), titled “Responding to climate change impacts on human health in Europe: focus on floods, droughts and water quality.”
In terms of infrastructure safety, 21% of Greece’s biological waste water treatment plants are in flood-risk areas, compared to only 1% of hospitals.
The report points out that around 30% of the population in southern Europe lives in areas with a permanent problem of water scarcity, while 70% lives in areas with seasonal water scarcity. This percentage is expected to increase.
Soil moisture on Crete, almost all of the Aegean and Ionian islands, the Peloponnese, and central Greece is expected to decrease significantly over the next 50 years, according to the report, quoting data from Copernicus’ climate change monitoring services.
Soil moisture will also decrease significantly in southern Spain, Sicily, and the northern part of the west coast of Turkey. The problem will also increase in central Spain, southern Italy and the southern coast of Turkey.
The survey documents the multilayered impacts of climate change on the human relationship with water on the European continent and presents a large number of practical solutions that European countries have implemented in recent years in response to exceptional circumstances.
The EEA said the report “aims to raise awareness about the range of risks to human health associated with changes in water quantity and quality under the changing climate.”
It also assesses the preparedness for ongoing and future impacts by examining the current policy landscape in Europe.
