August 3, 2018

For many people in the Northern Hemisphere, the summer of 2018 has been touched by fire and obscured by smoke. Summers are typically fire seasons in many areas, but climate change has caused hotter and drier conditions in recent years, and wildfire outbreaks have become more frequent and more destructive. Other causes of increased fire activity include the building of more developments in fire-prone areas, a lack of proper forest management, and, of course, simple human carelessness. In the past weeks, fires have killed more than 100 people and destroyed homes and large swaths of land in Asia, Europe, and North America.

A firefighting helicopter flies over a wildfire in the Greek town of Rafina near Athens on July 23, 2018. The Greek wildfire was the deadliest yet this year, claiming the lives of 92 people. Credit: © Angelos Tzortzinis, AFP/Getty Images

In southeastern Greece, a wildfire erupted July 23, destroying or damaging some 3,500 structures and killing 96 people along the Attica coast. The giant wildfire, just 18 miles (30 kilometers) east of Athens, the Greek capital, burned out of control for several days, gutting seaside resorts and holiday homes. Fanned by high winds, the fast-moving blaze trapped and killed groups of people, including entire families as they huddled between the flames and steep cliffs overlooking the Aegean Sea. The high death toll prompted criticism of the the area’s lack of access roads, warning systems, and other civil protection measures in areas surrounded by forest and at high risk of wildfires.

In far northern Europe, dozens of wildfires have consumed more than 62,000 acres (25,000 hectares) this summer in Sweden, which is experiencing an abnormally lengthy and intense heat wave. Neighboring Finland and Norway are also suffering from unusual heat and wildfire outbreaks, as are Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania on the other side of the Baltic Sea. Wildfires also torched drought-stricken areas of Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland.

This week in northern California, firefighters continued to battle the Carr Fire that has killed 8 people, destroyed over 1,500 buildings, and consumed some 125,000 acres (50,000 hectares) of land. The wildfire started on July 23 along Carr Powerhouse Road in Shasta County near the city of Redding. The “mechanical failure of a vehicle” ignited dried grasses and trees, and soon flames were roaring through the forested hills around Whiskeytown Lake west of Redding. The wildfire, aided by hot and dry weather, high winds, an abundance of natural fuel, and steep terrain, has since been chased westward by more than 4,200 firefighters—2 of whom have died fighting the blaze. Reports of  “firenados” (huge, rotating whorls of smoke, flame, and ash) encouraged nearly 40,000 people to obey evacuation orders and leave the fire area (which included parts of nearby Trinity County). Many people will return to find their homes and property in ashes.

The Carr Fire is the largest of 17 wildfires currently burning throughout the state of California. Collectively, wildfires in the western United States have scorched 4.6 million acres (1.86 million hectares) so far this year, a 24 percent increase over the annual average for the past decade. Wildfires have also stricken large areas of western Canada and parts of Mexico this summer.

Wildfires have also consumed vast amounts of territory in Siberia of eastern Russia. Since May, firefighters have been battling immense wildfires in the Amur Oblast region along the Chinese border, where towering pyrocumulus clouds have injected smoke and pollutants high into Earth’s atmosphere. Pyrocumulus clouds are formed by rising heat from wildfires or by plume emissions from fossil fuel-burning industrial plants, and they sharply increase the levels of carbon dioxide and harmful aerosols in the atmosphere.

April 2, 2018

Greek is the official language of Greece. Greek belongs to the Hellenic branch of the Indo-European language family. About 13 million people speak Greek today, mainly in Greece and Cyprus, where it is an official language. Greek is also recognized as a minority language in parts of Italy, and in Albania, Romania, and Ukraine. Today, the Greek alphabet is used to write only Greek. However, at various times in the past, the alphabet has been used to write many languages, including Arabic, Hebrew, and Turkish.

Greece flag. Credit: © Asuwan Masae, Shutterstock

Many of the world’s greatest poets, playwrights, and philosophers wrote in Greek during the 400’s B.C. They include the poet Homer; the dramatists Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles; and the philosophers Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates. Many English words are based on Greek, including architect, criticism, music, and poetry. Scientific words originating in Greek include astronaut, ecology, geography, and psychiatry.

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Greek alphabet. Credit: WORLD BOOK

Greek was first written in Mycenae, a city southwest of Athens. The language was written in an alphabet known as Linear B. It was used from about 1500 B.C. until the late 1100’s B.C., when the Mycenaean civilization collapsed. Writing then disappeared from Greece until the late 800’s to early 700’s B.C., when an alphabet was introduced based on the Phoenician language.

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Greece. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

The history of early Greek has been divided into three periods. They are the Hellenic (about 500 to 300 B.C.), the Hellenistic (later 300’s to mid-100’s B.C.), and the Byzantine (about A.D. 330 to 1453). The classic Greek writers flourished during the Hellenic period. During the Hellenistic period, the language underwent major changes following the conquests of the great military leader Alexander the Great. Alexander carried a form of the language, along with Greek culture, far into western Asia. There it became the standard language of commerce and government, existing alongside many local languages. Greek was adopted as a second language by the native people of these regions and was ultimately transformed into what came to be called koiné (common) Greek.

Greek existed in several major dialects during the Hellenistic period. A combined dialect, now called Attic, eventually was produced. The Attic dialect dominated literature during the entire Byzantine era. The era began with the establishment of the city of Constantinople in 330 and ended in 1453, when Constantinople (now Istanbul) was captured by the Ottoman Empire. After Greece finally won its freedom from the Ottomans in 1830, a Greek kingdom was formed. At its core were Athens and a large peninsula west of Athens known as Peloponnesus. The dialects spoken in these areas became the basis for the spoken language, called demotic, used by Greeks today.

A Greek language called Katharevousa was a formal form of written Greek that emerged in the 1800’s. Until 1976, it was the official written language used in government and judiciary documents as well as in most newspapers and technical publications. It has now largely been replaced by written demotic.

September 30, 2015

An international team of scientists reported this week on new discoveries recovered from the Antikythera shipwreck, a mysterious 2,100-year-old Roman-era wreck that also contains the world’s oldest-known computer. The scientists displayed more than 50 items recovered from the ship in recent months, including an ivory flute, fine glassware, ceramic amphorae (wine jugs), and a bronze armrest. The artifacts provide a rare glimpse into the material wealth of the most elite members of society in ancient Rome and the surprising technological sophistication of the ancient world.

Archaeologists excavating the famous ancient Greek shipwreck that yielded the Antikythera Mechanism have recovered more than 50 items, including an intact amphora; a large lead salvage ring, two lead anchor stocks (possibly indicating the ship’s bow), fragments of lead hull sheathing, and a small and finely formed lagynos (or table jug). (Credit: Brett Seymour, EUA/ARGO/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute)

In 1900, sponge divers first discovered the ancient shipwreck beneath about 180 feet (55 meters) of water near Antikythera, an island off the southern coast of Greece. One of the most fascinating artifacts (objects made by human skill or work, especially tools or weapons) recovered in 1900 is known as the Antikythera Mechanism. The mechanism has 30 hand-cut bronze gears, dials, clock-like hands, and a wooden and bronze casing inscribed with ancient Greek writing. Scientists tried for decades to understand its purpose. In 2006, using computed tomography (CT) imaging, scientists made out faded inscriptions and reconstructed the mechanism. The reconstruction showed that it was an accurate mechanical astronomical computer that could predict the position of the sun and planets. It was also able to forecast lunar and solar eclipses. The finding showed that ancient technology was much more advanced than scientists had previously imagined.

Beginning in 2014, an international team of archaeologists renewed exploration of the Antikythera shipwreck for the first time in 40 years. Dozens of marble statues had been recovered from the shipwreck in the past, but scientists knew that many valuable artifacts remained. The shipwreck is scattered over an area 100 feet (30 meters) in diameter. Using modern methods developed for underwater archaeology, scientists investigated the shipwreck, recovered artifacts, and tried to reconstruct the ship’s history. Robotic submersibles (undersea research vessels) mapped the wreckage in great detail, and metal detectors located objects beneath the sandy seafloor.

Researchers think the Antikythera ship sank in a storm around 65 B.C., while transporting treasure from Greece to Rome. The treasure may have been taken as booty during a military campaign in Greece by Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix. Unlike other ancient shipwrecks, which often provide artifacts from common daily life, this ship held treasures that represent the finest artwork and luxury goods available only to the wealthiest members of ancient society.

July 16, 2015

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras during a session of parliament on the evening of July 15, 2015. Credit: © Aris Messinis, AFP/Getty Images

Late last night, Greek lawmakers voted to accept austerity measures proposed by the European Union (EU) in return for a financial bailout of 86 billion euros ($94 billion). No one had been sure how the vote late on Wednesday would go. Greek legislators were asked to choose between two difficult options. On the one hand, they could choose a reform package of austerity measures similar to those that, over the last five years, had inflicted great hardship on Greece and its people and to which 60 percent of the Greek people had voted “no” just last week. The other choice led to leaving the eurozone and probably the EU, reinstating its old currency (the drachma), and the upheaval of financial collapse.

Greek Prime Minister Alex Tsipras came to power on Jan. 26, 2015, as the leader of Syriza, an anti-austerity party. After five years of EU-mandated austerity, the Greek government still owed a large amount in national debt and the Greek economy had shrunk by 25 percent. On July 5, the Greek people had voted against a nearly identical bailout package in a national referendum. Tsipras had pushed hard for debt reduction for Greece as part of the bailout, but stronger members of the EU, especially Germany, were totally opposed. Tsipras stated that although he strongly disagreed with the terms of the final EU bailout deal, he still was asking the Greek parliament to vote in favor of it. The bill passed, but some 60 members voted against it, including 32 from Tsipras’s own party, splitting the unity of Syriza.

The bailout package must garner parliamentary approval by all of the eurozone countries. Until this bailout can be finalized, the EU is preparing a bridge fund of 7 billion euros to reopen Greece’s banks and temporarily prop up its economy.

A report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), released on Tuesday, July 14, stated that debt reduction needed to be a part of the bailout given to Greece in order for the country to have any hope of recovering from its economic woes. The IMF was quoted in the report as saying, “Greece will need debt relief far beyond what eurozone partners have been prepared to consider due to the devastation of its economy and banks in the last two weeks.” Because the IMF is a major creditor for Greece, perhaps there will be some additional negotiation concerning this bailout, Greece’s third in five years.

Other Behind the headline articles: 

• EU agrees to bailout terms for Greece (July 2015)
• Greece Votes Oxi! (July 2015) 
• Greece Closes Banks, as Economic Crisis Escalates (June 2015)
• Greece Gets a Reprieve (February 2015) 

July 13, 2015

Greek demonstrators protest against austerity measures proposed by the EU, demanding Greece leave the European Union. Credit: © Yiorgos GR/Shutterstock

After an 18-hour session of talks, the European Union announced that it was willing to consider offering a third financial bailout to the Greek government. The value of the bailout is around 82 billion to 86 billion euros ($91 billion to $96 billion). The banks in Greece have been closed for going on the second week, most Greek citizens are under currency restrictions for how much money they may withdraw from their accounts on a daily basis, and the nation is nearly out of currency. If a bailout did not come soon, Greece would have been forced to declare bankruptcy and would likely have left the EU.

By Wednesday, July 15, the Greek parliament must vote in favor of the new bailout terms, which were seen by some experts as being fairly harsh. Some of the terms Greece must agree to include:

1. A possible extension on the time frame in which debt payments are due, but no reduction in the overall debt owed by the Greek government.
2. A demand that Greece begin to privatize some of its assets; for example, the nation’s state-owned electricity grid could be sold off to private companies and the profit used to create a fund for investment and for paying off debt.
3. A reform of the Greek pension and tax systems.

If the Greek parliament agrees to the EU terms, the bailout package must also be approved by the parliaments of Germany and Finland. If these governments all approve the package, Greece would also be eligible for “bridge” financing, or immediate short-term financing, to stave off imminent bankruptcy. Experts were uncertain if Greek Prime Minister Alex Tsipras would be able to persuade members of his left-leaning party, Syriza, to vote in favor of the package.

Other Behind the headline articles: 

• Greece Votes Oxi! (July 2015) 
• Greece Closes Banks, as Economic Crisis Escalates (June 2015)
• Greece Gets a Reprieve (February 2015) 

July 1, 2015

At midnight on June 30, the government of Greece officially defaulted on its loan payment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Greece is the first Western nation to ever default on an IMF loan since the organization was founded in 1944. Last weekend, Greek Prime Minister Alex Tsipras stated that Greece could not accept the European Union (EU) terms of increased fiscal austerity as a condition of receiving the financial payments Greece needed to repay the IMF without holding a national referendum on Sunday, July 5th. Such a loan default as Greece has had with the IMF makes the exit of Greece from the eurozone and the EU  (known as Grexit), far more likely.

Alex Tsipras, leader of the anti-austerity party Syriza, speaks to supporters after the parliamentary elections in Greece in January 2015. Credit: AP Photo

U.S. President Barack Obama called on leaders on the EU side of the conflict to try loosen some austerity policies and try to find a compromise position to keep Greece in the eurozone and EU, saying “You cannot keep squeezing countries that are in the midst of a depression.” This morning, in a televised address, Tsipras announced his government would be willing to accept the bailout offer made earlier this week with some minor adjustments. It was uncertain whether this concession will solve Greek’s mounting financial pressures. The banks in Grece remain closed to maintain what little currency is left in the country. ATM’s have a withdrawal limit of 60 euros per-person per-day, except for tourists using debit cards issued in foreign nations. (Tourism makes up around 20 percent of Greece’s economy.) German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that no talks with Greece should resume until after Sunday’s referendum is held, meaning that, for now, it is uncertain if the EU bailout is still on offer.

Other World Book articles:

• Anti-Austerity Party Wins Greek Parliamentary Elections (January 2015 Behind the headlines)
• Greece Gets a Reprieve (February 2015 Behind the headlines)
• Greece Closes Banks as Economic Crisis Escalates (June 2015 Behind the headlines)

February 26, 2015

The crisis surrounding Greek debt eased this week. Yesterday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a test ballot among MP’s (members of parliament) in her party and in coalition with her party to see if the proposed four-month extension on financial aid to Greece would pass in the German parliament. Because Germany is a financial powerhouse in the European Union (EU), its approval is necessary for the planned aid to go forward. Merkel’s center-right coalition, made up of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU), voted in favor of the aid package to Greece by 311 to 22.

The Greek economy is important to more than just Greece and its citizens. Greece is a member of the European Union and belongs to the eurozone—that is, it is one of 19 EU countries that use the euro as their currency. Greece cannot claim it is bankrupt and renege on its debt agreements while it remains in the EU. The EU has a central bank, the ECB, that is expected to prevent any member nation from defaulting on its obligations. To default, Greece would have to leave the European Union and the eurozone. The effect on the global economy of such a move as Greece’s default on its creditors and its return to its old currency, the drachma, would be worrying enough. But were Greece to leave the EU, it would call the entire enterprise of European unification and a shared currency into question.

Alex Tsipras, leader of the anti-austerity party Syriza, speaks to supporters after his party won the parliamentary elections in Greece on Jan. 25, 2015. (Credit: AP Photo)

In order to obtain an agreement for financing, the new government of Greece, swept into power on anti-austerity sentiment in a nation that has spent the last five years in recession, agreed to certain conditions. Some of the conditions reflect the deep divisions between Germany, the creditor nation, and Greece, the debtor nation. Germany has loaned billions of euros to Greece via the EU over the past five years, and it wants Greece to keep its agreement to pay that money back. Greece has spent five years living under the austerity plan of the European Union; it has had a shrinking economy for six years; and it currently has an unemployment rate of nearly 26 percent. When the government of Greece, for example, pledges to increase housing and medical care for the poor without increasing public spending, it seems as if those two goals will be difficult to reconcile. Some experts feel the promises Greece made this week to obtain a four-month loan extension will be impossible to keep.

Other World Book articles:

• Crisis in the Eurozone (2010-a Special report)
• Greece (2012-a Back in Time article)

January 26, 2015

Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the Greek party Syriza, today formed a coalition government and was sworn in as prime minister. Tsipras has vowed to renegotiate the amount of the nation’s debt and to put an end to austerity measures—tax increases and limits on government spending—that were imposed by the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. These austerity measures were placed on the Greek government in return for bailout money from the European Union—240 billion euros ($244 billion).

Alex Tsipras, leader of the anti-austerity party Syriza, speaks to supporters after the parliamentary elections in Greece on Jan. 25, 2015. Credit: AP Photo

In yesterday’s parliamentary elections, Syriza won at least 149 of 300 seats, nearly an outright majority. The left-wing party then formed a coalition government with the right-wing Independent Greeks party to take a majority in parliament.

EU austerity measures have led to a more balanced budget of government spending to revenue for Greece, but at the cost of a contracting economy. The Greek economy has been in recession for the last five years, its unemployment rate has soared to nearly 30 percent, and wages in Greece have fallen sharply. This has left Greece in conundrum. After five years of austerity, its debt has actually increased when considered as a ratio of debt to gross domestic product (GDP—the amount of goods and services in a nation’s economy in a given year). In 2010, the Greek debt was 130 percent of its GDP. It is now close to 170 percent.

After five years of economic pain, Greece is less able to pay its creditors than it was in 2010. Greek voters are hoping Tsipras can lead their nation to better times.

June 20, 2012

Antonis Samaras, the leader of Greece’s conservative New Democracy Party, was sworn in as prime minister, heading a three-party coalition that is committed to upholding Greece’s bailout commitments. His New Democracy party joined forces with the leftist PASOK party and the smaller Democratic Left party. The formation of the new coalition government ended–at least for now–a protracted political crisis that threatened to plunge Europe deeper into financial chaos. New Democracy won recent parliamentary elections with 29.67 percent of the vote. The leftist Syriza party, which came in second, ran on its opposition to the terms of a bailout that kept Greece from defaulting on its national debt earlier this year. European officials had warned that failing to live up to the terms of the agreement could result in Greece’s expulsion from the eurozone.

In March, the European Union and International Monetary Fund loaned Greece 130 billion euros (172 billion dollars), but the conditions were severe. The agreed upon program of “austerity” was designed to drastically lower Greece’s national debt. This was to be accomplished by slashing public sector jobs, the minimum wage, and old-age pensions; it also called for Greece to privatize–that is, to sell off–such publicly owned assets as transportation and utility companies. According to many economists, the austerity program has, in fact, plunged Greece’s economy deeper into recession–pushing unemployment higher and depressing tax revenues. These economists also argue that austerity has dragged Greece even deeper into debt.

The Parthenon crowns Athens, the capital of Greece. (© Dagli Orti, The Art Archive)

While not rejecting the terms of the bailout, Samaras’s New Democracy party seeks to change it. However, both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the German foreign minister have stated that the substance of the bailout agreement is “not negotiable,” though the “timeframe could be discussed.” Speaking in Athens, Greek political and economic analyst Theodore Couloumbis noted, “The crisis has been postponed, not necessarily averted. For this [latest] government to last it has to show results. You can’t continue with 50 percent youth unemployment and a fifth straight year of recession.”

Additional World Book articles:

• Bond
• Euro
• Economics 2010 (a Back in Time article)
• Economics 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• Greece 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• Crisis in the Eurozone (a special report)

June 18, 2012

Antonis Samaras, leader of Greece’s conservative New Democracy Party, met with President Karolos Papoulias today to discuss the formation of a new coalition government. New Democracy won yesterday’s parliamentary elections with 29.67 percent of the vote, guaranteeing that Greece will remain in the eurozone, at least for now. The leftist Syriza party came in second with 26.9 percent of the vote. Syriza ran on its opposition to the terms of a bailout that kept Greece from defaulting on its national debt earlier this year. European officials had warned that failing to live up to the terms of the agreement could result in Greece’s expulsion from the eurozone.

In March, the European Union and International Monetary Fund loaned Greece 130 billion euros (172 billion dollars), but the conditions were severe. The agreed upon program of “austerity” was designed to drastically lower Greece’s national debt. This was to be accomplished by slashing public sector jobs, the minimum wage, and old-age pensions; it also called for Greece to privatize–that is, to sell off–such publicly owned assets as transportation and utility companies. According to many economists, the austerity program has, in fact, plunged Greece’s economy deeper into recession–pushing unemployment higher and depressing tax revenues. These economists also argue that austerity has dragged Greece even deeper into debt.

The Parthenon crowns Athens, the capital of Greece. (© Dagli Orti, The Art Archive)

While not rejecting the terms of the bailout, Samaras’s New Democracy party seeks to change it. However, both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the German foreign minister have stated that the substance of the bailout agreement is “not negotiable,” though the “timeframe could be discussed.”

Speaking in Athens, Greek political and economic analyst Theodore Couloumbis noted, “The crisis has been postponed, not necessarily averted. For this [latest] government to last it has to show results. You can’t continue with 50 percent youth unemployment and a fifth straight year of recession.”

Additional World Book articles:

• Bond
• Euro
• Economics 2010 (a Back in Time article)
• Economics 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• Greece 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• Crisis in the Eurozone (a special report)