Search

The agricultural sector faces significant challenges worldwide due to climate change. The pressure exerted by altered thermal conditions drives the zonal shift for various cultivations. This study aims to analyze and present the spatiotemporal evolution of the growing degree days (GDD) index in the northern Mediterranean Basin (NMB). More specifically, this research presents the multiyear analysis of the GDD index, which is focused on a high-value vine cultivation derived from the E-OBS dataset. The investigated time period spans from 1969 to 2018, and the performed analysis indicates a broad shift/expansion in areas with GDDs exceeding 2000 heat units. This is present in traditional winemaker countries such as France and Italy. Still, it is also evident that there is a high positive change in countries such as Serbia, Bulgaria, and other Balkans countries. The findings may be helpful in the strategic planning of the agricultural sector in these countries or on a vinery scale.

The changing climate is closely related to changes in the bioclimate. This research deals with the present bioclimate and its projected evolution over the entirety of the natural and agricultural lands of south-eastern Europe and individual countries (Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, N. Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia). For this purpose, an ultrahigh spatial resolution of the de Martonne bioclimatic index pattern was elaborated and analysed for the first time. The survey is performed over the reference period (1981–2010) and future time frames (2011–2040; 2041–2070; 2071–2100) under SSP370 and SSP585 emission scenarios. On a territorial level, both natural and agricultural areas appear as highly impacted by the future changes of bioclimate; the highest xerothermic trend is expected to influence the latter areas, mostly in 2071–2100 and under the higher emission scenario. The natural areas will face an expansion in the semidry class from 0.9% (of the total area) during the reference period to 5.6% during 2071–2100 under the RCP8.5 scenario as the dominant extremely humid class falls from 53.5% to 32.9% for the same periods and scenario. On the other hand, agricultural areas will face a more intense xerothermic alteration going from 4.9% to 17.7% for the semidry class and from 41.1% to 23.5% for the dominant very humid class for the same periods and scenario. This study presents the spatial statistics per country for the selected scenarios and periods to provide information for stakeholders. This study’s results highlight the necessity for intensifying adaptation plans and actions aiming at the feasibility of agricultural practices and the conservation of natural areas.

Thermal conditions are the most challenging factors in studying human biometeorology, indoor and outdoor design, and adaptation to climate change. The thermal environment is always present and shapes everyday life, behaviours, and the natural and artificial environment. In this paper, we analyse some thoughts that link thermal perception to the roots of human civilisation. Following the narrative thread of mythology and the history of religions, there are direct and indirect references to the thermal environment everywhere. The thermal environment may be a part of the core of human culture.

Frost incidents comprise significant extreme weather events owing to climate change, possibly endangering the agricultural sector of the already impacted south-eastern European area. Thus, the comprehensive evaluation of the frost conditions under the climate regime for eleven countries was conducted by calculating relevant frost agroclimatic indicators under three time horizons (1985 to 2015, 2005 to 2035 and 2015 to 2045). The Frost Days (FD), Free of Frost Days (FFD), Last Spring Frost (LSF) and First Autumn Frost (FAF) were estimated daily over a grid of 25 × 25 km. We demonstrated that the FD will be reduced according to the balanced A1B emissions scenario over the entire examined area with the mountainous and continental regions being most affected. From 2005 to 2035, a higher LSF reduction is expected over Greece and Albania and the earlier FAF in high altitude areas. All examined regions are projected to face delayed FAF, from 2015 to 2045. In general, all countries will face an increase in the growing season duration owing to the increase of the FFD.

The European climate is changing displaying profound impacts on agriculture, thus strongly reaching the scientific community’s attention. In this review, the compilation of selected scientific research on the agroclimatic conditions’ changes and their impact on the productivity parameters (phenology timing, product quality and quantity) of grapevines and on the spatiotemporal characteristics of the viticultural areas are attempted for the first time. For this purpose, a thorough investigation through multiple search queries was conducted for the period (2005–2021). Overall, increasing (decreasing) trends in critical temperature (precipitation) parameters are the reality of the recent past with visible impacts on viticulture. The observed climate warming already enforces emerging phenomena related to the modification of the developmental rate (earlier phenological events, shortening of phenological intervals, lengthening of the growing season, earlier harvest), the alteration of product quality, the heterogeneous effects on grapevine yield and the emergence of new cool-climate viticulture areas highlighting the cultivation’s rebirth in the northern and central parts of the continent. The vulnerability of the wine-growing ecosystem urges the integration of innovative and sustainable solutions for confronting the impacts of climate change and safeguarding the production (quantity and quality) capacity of viticultural systems in Europe under a continuously changing environment.

The Balkan peninsula is a transitional zone, in terms of bioclimatic conditions, with an extended and dynamic agricultural sector. Its potential is in peril due to climate change and socioeconomic factors. To assess and evaluate the agrometeorological conditions and the related trends which affect the widely cultivated wheat and maize, a big dataset with high spatiotemporal analysis was utilized. The thermal indices of Growing Degree Days (GDD) and Heat Stress Index (HSI) along with the main frost parameters (frost days, last spring frost, first autumn frost, and free of frost days) were calculated over ten countries for 42 years on a daily basis over a grid of 25 × 25 km. The results indicate a clear cultivations’ expansion ability to northern areas, and higher altitudes and an increased risk of heat caused plants’ injuries. The thermal indices’ trends for maize and wheat cultivation are always positive (Maize: GDD 7.26–11.05 units/yr, HSI 0.52–3.51 units/yr Wheat: GDD 7.2–12.7 units/yr, HSI 0.22–1.77 units/yr). The free of frost (FFD) season is getting longer (trend −0.04 to 0.34 d/yr) because of earlier last spring frost and delayed first autumn frost. The results consist of spatial and temporal illustrations, along with summary statistics and probability density plots for the entire study area and per country.

Climate change is a continuous spatiotemporal reality, possibly endangering the viability of the grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) in the future. Europe emerges as an especially responsive area where the grapevine is largely recognised as one of the most important crops, playing a key environmental and socio-economic role. The mounting evidence on significant impacts of climate change on viticulture urges the scientific community in investigating the potential evolution of these impacts in the upcoming decades. In this review work, a first attempt for the compilation of selected scientific research on this subject, during a relatively recent time frame (2010–2020), is implemented. For this purpose, a thorough investigation through multiple search queries was conducted and further screened by focusing exclusively on the predicted productivity parameters (phenology timing, product quality and yield) and cultivation area alteration. Main findings on the potential impacts of future climate change are described as changes in grapevine phenological timing, alterations in grape and wine composition, heterogeneous effects on grapevine yield, the expansion into areas that were previously unsuitable for grapevine cultivation and significant geographical displacements in traditional growing areas. These compiled findings may facilitate and delineate the implementation of effective adaptation and mitigation strategies, ultimately potentiating the future sustainability of European viticulture.

Olive and vine cultivations are two of the most important crops in Europe, yielding high quality and value food products. The climate change over the Balkans may elevate the agroecological pressure for the established crops and shift their cultivations areas. One of the widely-used agroclimatic indices is the growing degree days (GDD) which accumulates the necessary thermal units for the selected crops. Despite the advances on the agroclimatic research, there are few available methods for spatiotemporal estimation of this useful index. So, this research is focused on the construction of simple and reliable equations for the calculation and projection of olive and vine cultivations’ GDD over the Balkans. The models’ input parameters are the time, the altitude, the distance from the seashore, and the latitude. Its assembly is made by the extracted spatial data, combined with the Agri4Cast dataset for the period of 1980 to 2018 incorporating the regional climate change trend. The results indicate that the most influential parameter is the time, followed by the latitude, for both cultivations. According to the projections, as quantified by GDD, a vast sprawl of olive and vine cultivation areas will have been formed to the northern parts of the studied area. To be more precise, the viticulture could expand spatially by 28.8% (of the Balkans area) by 2040, and by 15.1% to 2060, when the olive cultivations’ area could sprawl 23.9% by 2040 and 20.3% by 2060.

R is an open-source programming language which gained a central place in the geosciences over the last two decades as the primary tool for research. Now, biometeorological research is driven by the diverse datasets related to the atmosphere and other biological agents (e.g., plants, animals and human beings) and the wide variety of software to handle and analyse them. The demand of the scientific community for the automation of analysis processes, data cleaning, results sharing, reproducibility and the capacity to handle big data brings a scripting language such as R in the foreground of the academic universe. This paper presents the advantages and the benefits of the R language for biometeorological and other atmospheric sciences’ research, providing an overview of its typical workflow. Moreover, we briefly present a group of useful and popular packages for biometeorological research and a road map for further scientific collaboration on the R basis. This paper could be a short introductory guide to the world of the R language for biometeorologists.

This paper aims to analyse and conclude about the behaviour of the most commonly used human thermal comfort indices under a variety of atmospheric conditions in order to provide further information about their appropriateness. Utilising Generalized Additive Models (GAMs), this article examines the indices’ sensitivity when exposed to diverse classified atmospheric conditions. Concentrated upon analysing commonly used human thermal indices, two Statistical/Algebraic indices (Thermohygrometric Index (THI) and HUMIDEX (HUM)), and four Energy Balance Model indices (Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET), modified PET (mPET), Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), and Perceived Temperature (PT)) were selected. The results of the study are twofold, the identification of (1) index sensitivity to parameters’ variation, and change rates, resultant of different atmospheric conditions; and, (2) the overall pertinence of each of the indices for local thermal comfort evaluation. The results indicate that the thermohygrometric indices cannot follow and present the thermal conditions’ variations. On the other hand, UTCI is very sensitive under low radiation condition, and PET/mPET present higher sensitivity when the weather is dominated by high radiation and air temperature. PT index provides the lower sensitive among the human energy balance indices, but this is adequately sensitive to describe the thermal comfort environment.