Etesiae Winds: From Aristotle to the 21st Century

Abstract

A survey of the literature was conducted to review historical and current regime of the Etesian (Etesiae) winds pattern as it was described by Aristotle in his work called Meterologica (around 330 B.C.) up to the current observations and models which investigate the origin of these winds, their behavior and their relation to the climate of Eastern Mediterranean. Since UNESCO dedicated the year 2016 to Aristotle it worth evaluating Aristotle's conception of the Etesian in the perspective of recent research, studying also the trends and the possible changes of this most stable and persistent wind field.