Greece

 Coastal Hazards  Greece is a major target of coastal erosion. The country lies home to over 15,000 kilometers of total coastline. As a country that features many different Islands, as well as having much of its border surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, Greece is at major risk to coastal hazards. Greece lies home to over 15,000 kilometers of coastline. A major issue facing Greece's coastline, is simply the fact that one-third of it is currently being lost due to erosion and rising sea levels. The major problem stems from specifically the erosion, but climate change and the rising sea levels are only speeding up the process of Greece losing its coast.   Here is a before and after image from a Greek beach cal led  Myrtos Beach, Kefalonia. As you can see, the entire sand beach is now covered due to rising sea levels and erosion. Although erosion is a naturally occurring event, climate change is accelerating  that process in Greece, at an unsustainable pace. Myrtos Beach itself is ex

 Extreme Weather In Greece Over the last forty years Greece has been experiencing an influx in extreme weather patterns. This includes multiple different types of extreme weather from strong storms and flooding to unusual heat waves.  In 2021, Greece had both an extreme storm, and a blistering heatwave to levels that Greece had not seen in ages. An intense rainstorm named "Ballos" ran through Greece in October of 2021. Storm Ballos was a extratropical cyclone that left some regions with the rainfall only from the first few hours of the storm being one-third of the entire rainfall from the previous year. Two months prior in August, Greece had also seen major heatwaves, even leading to the highest temperature ever recorded in Greece, 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Prior to the intense heatwaves of August, the summer was also riddled with dry heat, causing a summer full of wildfires.  Greece is predicted to have a gradual decrease in rainfall, as well as an increase in heatwaves and ov

 Week 8: Mass Wasting in Greece  Mass wasting a natural disaster caused by a plethora of different reasons, making most countries susceptible  to them. Mass wasting is a main contributor  to Earth's   evolving  landscape. They especially damage the more terraneous countries, with lots of mountains, canyons, or cliffs.  The country of Greece is on of the most seismically active places in the world. Unfortunately earthquakes are a major cause of landslides and other types of mass wasting. Other causes can be from volcanic eruption, flooding, heavy rainfall, poor drainage systems, as well as just human activity.  This image shows the landslide susceptibility for the mainland Greece.   The Western part of Greece sees high risks of mass wasting, especially landslides due to both man-made and natural factors.  Along with the region being one of the most tectonically active in the world, previous landslide events have damaged small sections of Greece's road network in the region. The

Volcanoes in Greece     Greece, due to the surrounding tectonic plates and faultiness, volcanos have been able form within the countries boundaries. Greek territory lays home to six total volcanos, four of which are still considered active. On top of the six, one more active volcano lays completely submerged underwater. This volcano is called Kolumbo and it lies in Aegean Sea, off the coast of the Island of Santorini.  The Island of Santorini is its own home to a volcano, the  Santorini volcano,  as the island is in itself was formed by volcanic activity. Santorini is one of the most popular Greek volcano and it's last eruption was in 1950. It is also known as the Santorini Caldera, being one of the biggest caldera's in existence.  The other three active volcanos fall on their own islands as well. They include, Methana, Milos, and Nisyros.  The cool thing about Greek volcanoes is that they all fall along what is called, the Volcanic Arc. The Volcanic Arc is a belt of volcanoes

  Week 3: Earthquakes          At least once a year from 2017 to 2021, Greece has fallen victim to an Earthquake at magnitude 5.3 or higher. There was seven earthquakes total over that five year span, six of which actually exceeding t he 6.0 mark, nearly tip toeing the line of serious damage to the country.  Fun fact, we get the word "seismic" from the Greek root word, "seismos."  Greece Earthquake map 1900 - 2017 As you can see Greece is no stranger to seismic activity, in fact Greece is actually not only one of the most seismically active countries in Europe, but the world as well.  Although they are common, luckily for the Grecians, most of their Earthquakes are generally mild. The nearby country of Turkey is known for taking more of the Earthquake damage despite sharing nearly all the same fault-lines. Turkey has much less strict building and structural requirements and standards. Greece's constant quakes led the Greek builders to establish multiple ways of

  Greece          Tectonic plates play a major role in the natural hazard potential of Greece. Greece is located atop a smaller tectonic plate called the Aegean Sea plate. This specific plate is very small but it connects with a much larger plate, the African Plate, just south of the southernmost Greek island, Crete. These two plates meet at a subduction zone.  Not only does the African and Aegean plates effect Greece, but the African plate also meets another major plate, the Eurasian plate. This meeting spot is deep beneath the Mediterranean sea. The boundary is convergent, causing the African plate to slowly subduct underneath the Eurasian plate. Due to the major plates in the surrounding area, and the smaller Aegean plate being the home of Greece, the movement of the tectonic plates makes Greece extremely susceptible to Earthquakes. In Ancient Greece they believed that the frequent Earthquakes were the work of Poseidon, but as science advanced, the blame shifted to the nearby tect