Post-collapse pollution in Greece

Tax On Heating Oil Turns Greek Skies Black With Wood Smoke

Athens smog

Customwire,

26 January, 2013

Fireplaces were long a status symbol for Greece's up-and-coming middle class, like the second car and the flat-screen TV. Now, they are increasingly their owners' only defense against the encroaching winter cold.

A steep increase in heating costs has led many Greeks to switch from heating oil to wood-burning. But the price of using cheaper fuel is growing.

Illegal loggers are slashing through forests already devastated by years of summer wildfires. Air pollution from wood smoke is choking the country's main cities. And there has been an increase in blazes caused by carelessly attended woodstoves.

Three children died in a northern village last month when a fire gutted the home of their grandparents, who had recently changed from oil-fueled central heating to a wooden stove to save money.

In Athens, the capital, officials have warned of severe health risks from the low-lying smog that smothers the city at night, when fireplaces and woodstoves burn at full blast in poorly insulated homes. Greece's leading medical association is demanding urgent action to clean the air. But those warnings have largely been ignored for a simple reason: Burning wood provides the same warmth as heating oil, for roughly half the cost.....

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