As Reservoirs Dry Up Due to Unprecedented Drought... Village Submerged 45 Years Ago Emerges Above Water Surface

Heatwave and Drought Persist for Months in Greece
"Cannot Waste Water"

A village in Greece that was submerged due to dam construction has reappeared for the first time in about 45 years amid severe heatwaves and drought.

According to AFP and other foreign media on the 3rd (local time), the village of Kilio in central Greece was completely submerged under an artificial reservoir when a dam was built in the late 1970s. However, due to the prolonged heatwave and drought over the past few months, the water level of the reservoir has dropped, revealing parts of the village above water.

The Greek village of Kallio revealed above the water. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Yorgos Iosifidis (60), who relocated to higher ground with other villagers when Kilio was submerged, said, "The water level of the reservoir has dropped by 40 meters." He explained that even after many years, traces of the village remain, saying, "I can see my father-in-law’s two-story house, and next to it, the houses of my cousins."

The average temperatures in Greece for June and July this year both set record highs. The heatwave and drought have continued unabated into September following August. It is reported that Greece has experienced almost no rainfall across the entire country for several months.

Greek authorities have urged residents in the Attica region, which surrounds Athens and is home to one-third of the country’s population, to conserve water. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited eastern Thessaly the day before and stated that Greece needs to improve its water resource management. He emphasized, "We cannot afford to waste water," and added, "In the current situation where water shortages are certain, we must protect water resources more systematically than we have done so far."

Greece is not the only country suffering from drought. In Brazil, the fifth largest country by land area (8.51 million km²) and seventh by population (200 million) in South America, residents are also struggling with the worst drought in 44 years. According to Brazilian media G1 and others, from May this year until last month, 16 out of the 27 states nationwide, including the Federal District of Bras?lia, recorded the lowest average humidity for the same period since 1980. Some residents have requested assistance from authorities due to a shortage of drinking water.

Additionally, Namibia in Africa declared a state of emergency in May as drought damage worsened. Namibia is eight times the size of South Korea but mostly desert, with a population of 2.6 million. However, it is reported that currently more than half of the entire population, about 1.4 million people, are facing severe difficulties in securing food.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.