Athens Is Only Getting Hotter. Its New ‘Chief Heat Officer’ Hopes to Cool It Down.
The New York Times
Eleni Myrivili has been tasked with finding ways to help the Greek capital cope with ever-hotter heat waves that are expected to be part of life for years to come.
ATHENS — On the hottest day of Greece’s record-breaking heat wave, when temperatures in Athens rose to 111 degrees Fahrenheit and wildfires choked the air, Eleni Myrivili stopped hanging laundry on her rooftop behind the Acropolis because she could hardly breathe from the heat. “I could only take short, kind of burning breaths,” she said, recalling that ash from the fires also turned her black clothes white. “It was scary.” The heat’s intensity (as high as 44 degrees on the Celsius scale) only increased the urgency that Ms. Myrivili brings to her new job as Athens’ — and Europe’s — first “chief heat officer,” tasked with giving one of the world’s most ancient cities an inhabitable future.More Related News