Greeks recently got a taste of what is to come, when they sweated out the warmest March in over 100 years. Temperatures in many parts across the country soared to 35 degrees Celsius, exceeding the average high temperature of 16 degrees for March.

"This is an unusually warm March," the president of the Greek Environmental Research Institute, Dimitris Lalas, told reporters. He added that March last was the warmest since 1897. Many welcomed the unseasonable summer sun and flocked to the beaches. On the down side, however, tinder-dry undergrowth was scorched by the high temperatures, resulting in 15 wild fires early in the season.

Experts believe that temperatures in May will also be unusually high. Even though it is too early to forecast for the summer, Lalas expects it will be one of the hottest and driest yet. The government is bracing for the possibility of a fiery summer and getting into gear to prevent and fight fires. Two to three percent (or an average of 5,000 square kilometres) of the country's forests are reduced to ash each year.

Greenhouse effect
Meanwhile, scientists are warning that Greece could become a huge greenhouse in the not-so-distant future. The situation is equally grim for the rest of Europe. The green house effect, caused largely by the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal, is now beginning to become evident in this country as well and meteorologists predict that the temperatures are steadily on the rise. Warming also affects rainfall patterns, which means that some parts of Greece will soon become much drier. The farming community is also concerned about the disastrous impact this will have on agricultural activity in these areas.

And as the greenhouse effect takes its toll on Greece and rainfall hits near record lows, many experts warn that water - one of the essentials of life - is running out. According to UNESCO, two-thirds of the worlds population will face drought in less than 25 years.

Thirst-threatened regions
For the first time in hundreds of years, water reservoirs in Attica did not increase last winter. A recent study conducted by the National Technical University in Athens showed that Attica consumes about 289 cubic metres of water each year. According to EYDAP, the capital's public water company, reservoirs in Attica contain 780 cubic metres of water. Simple mathematics reveal that this is only enough to meet the needs for just two more years.

To boost the capitals water supply, the Evinos River (300 km north-west of Athens) has been recently diverted through a tunnel to a new dam, providing an additional 200 million cubic meters of drinkable water supply.

The situation in the extensive arable plains of Thessalia is even more serious. A water shortage in this region will spell ruin for hundreds of local farmers in the not-too-far future. And the slight rise in Crete's and the Peloponese's rainfall in recent years is not enough to meet their water needs.

In Thessaloniki, on the other hand, works are currently underway to transport water from the Aliakmonas River (adducting tunnel, closed pipes, pumping stations, tanks and refineries), to provide the city with some 600,000 cubic metres per day in the hope that the northern capital's needs will be met by the year 2017.

Alternative power
Using up water represents a real concern for the government, which is striving to reverse environmental damage and raise public awareness on water conservation by regularly organising various events on March 22, World Water Day.

In an effort to reduce fossil fuel consumption, alternative energy sources are being sought out under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment, Psysical Planning & Public Works. Natural gas, for instance, a clean burning fuel, will soon become the main energy source in the Greek capital, according to a joint ministerial decision of last year. For their part, environmentalists are urging Greeks to change their lifestyle and become more conscious of irreplaceable resources, such as water, before they are depleted.

It must be noted that Greece tops a list of European country in consumption of water for farming, while Attica has the highest consumption of water compared to other wider urban centres in Europe.