Sources and Variability of Greenhouse Gases over Greece
This study provides an overview of the atmospheric drivers of climate change over Greece (Eastern Mediterranean), focusing on greenhouse gases (GHG: carbon dioxide, CO2; methane, CH4; etc.). CO2 in Greece is mostly produced by energy production, followed by transport, construction, and industry. Waste management is the largest anthropogenic source of methane, accounting for 47% of total CH4 emissions, surpassing emissions from the agricultural sector in 2017, while the energy sector accounts for the remaining 10.5%. In situ simultaneous observations of GHG concentrations in Greece conducted at three sites with different topologies (urban background; Athens, regional background; Finokalia and free troposphere; and Helmos) during the last 5 years (2019–2023) showed increasing trends of the order of 2.2 ppm·yr−1 and ~15 ppb·yr−1 for CO2 and CH4, respectively, in line with the global trends. These increasing trends were found from both ground-based and satellite-based remote-sensing observations. Finally, during the lockdown period due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, a 58% reduction in CO2 levels was observed in the urban background site of Athens after subtracting the regional background levels from Finokalia, while the respective reduction in CH4 was of only the order of 15%, highlighting differences in emission sources.
Authors
- Nikos Gialesakis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8765-0860)
- Morgan Lopez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1725-3410)
- Michel Ramonet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1157-1186)
- N. Mihalopoulos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1282-0896)
- Maria I. Gini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8131-1211)
- S. Mirasgedis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2391-9808)
- Panayiotis Kalkavouras (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7295-8723)
- Clément Narbaud (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8834-1552)
- Aikaterini Bougiatioti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6945-034X)
- Dimitris Balis
- Marios Mermigkas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5229-5352)
- Konstantinos Eleftheriadis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2265-4905)
- Maria Kanakidou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1724-9692)
- Yannis Sarafidis
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Crete (GR)
- University of Bremen (DE)
- Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (FR)
- National Centre of Scientific Research "Demokritos" (GR)
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GR)
- Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR)
- National Observatory of Athens (GR)
- Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (FR)
- CEA Paris-Saclay (FR)
- Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (GR)
- University of the Aegean (GR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Atmosphere
- Published
- 2024-10-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15111288
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.13
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Universität Bremen