Third Major Heat Wave Of Summer Hits Athens & Southern Greece - New Record - Ekathimerini

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Rising pollution levels in Athens forced authorities to warn the elderly and people with heart or respiration problems to avoid leaving their homes yesterday as a record third heat wave this summer hit the city.

The level of ground-level ozone in the air exceeded the warning level of 180 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3) at three of the 14 monitoring stations in Athens, in the districts of Nea Smyrni, Liossia and Lykovrisi. The highest reading yesterday was in Lykovrisi, where it reached 206 mg/m3. The emergency level is 240 mg/m3.

“The high concentration of pollution that we have seen over the last few days is mainly due to the weather,” Yiannis Ziomas, a chemical engineering professor at the National Technical University of Athens told Kathimerini.

The temperature reached 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in Athens yesterday, making it one of the hottest days of the summer. Meteorologists said yesterday that it was the first time that three heat waves had been recorded in a single summer.

EDIT

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100008_23/08/2007_87041