Sakis Arnaoutoglou expressed astonishment at the devastation experienced in such a short time since Storm Elias hit Greece. In a Facebook post, he highlighted the data indicating that Volos, a city in Magnesia (one of the regional units of Greece, part of Thessaly), has already received about 30 times the average amount of rainfall for September, and the month is not yet over.
According to Arnaoutoglo, such intense and rapid bad weather never affected Magnesia. Today, the rainfall in Volos has exceeded 200 liters per square meter, surpassing the average rainfall for the entire month of September, which is usually around 35 liters per square meter.
Arnautoglou concludes his post by suggesting that if these extreme weather events are unrelated to the rapidly changing climate, he will disregard any alternative explanations.
He says that he will only consider the impacts of climate change when presented with scientific evidence that unequivocally links these events to climate change. He also notes that any alternative explanations should be based on scientific evidence and not be used to dismiss the impacts of climate change.