Malta’s climate got 1.4°C hotter over last century

Malta’s average annual air temperature has increased by roughly 1.4°C since the mid-1940s according to available statistics from the Meteorological Office at Malta International Airport.

The island’s average-high temperature increased by almost 2°C, while the average-low saw little to no increase over the past 100 years, according to data seen by MaltaToday.

Meanwhile, sea temperature has increased drastically: in 1978, average sea surface temperature stood at around 19.2°C; by 2018, average temperatures rose to 21°C – an almost 2°C increase in just 50 years.

The data indicates a consistency with global climate patterns of warmer temperatures only getting hotter.

In 1923, the difference between the average highs and lows were not as large as they are now, with the range set at roughly 15.5°C-21.5°C. Now, with lower air temperatures remaining fairly the same, the average temperature range has widened to 15.5°C-23.5°C.

But a spokesperson for the Met Office said for the Maltese islands, it may be the case that extreme weather manifests itself in drier and hotter summers, while other seasons may remain stable, which is how the slight change in the minimum temperature could be explained.

Warmer waters

The lasting effects of rising sea temperatures have a serious impact on local marine life, especially for cold-water species. For these creatures, the present sea temperature is already at the warm end of what they can tolerate, so any increase in temperature would make it considerably more difficult for them to survive.

On the other hand, species better suited to warmer waters will likely thrive as the sea gets warmer, with marine communities in Malta starting to resemble those in the south-eastern Mediterranean.

“If temperatures on the land are increasing, the sea surface temperatures will reflect this increase too, albeit at a slower process due to a higher specific heat capacity,” a Met Office spokesperson told MaltaToday. “For a more balanced argument, one should not exclude other circumstances and events that may impact the climate, as has happened in the past, such as orbital changes and wobbles causing temporary ice-ages.”

IPCC ‘red zone’ warning

James Ciarlò, a climate researcher, has already documented how Malta’s climate and seasonal cycle have already been disturbed.

In 2017, Ciarlò warned that Malta would continue to experience more frequent, longer and more intense heatwaves in the coming years as a result of these disruptions.

This summer has so far offered credence to this warning. Last week Malta headed into its third heatwave of the season, with the Santa Marija week characterised by temperatures that felt like 41°C.

The Santa Mariija week ushered in Malta's third heatwave for the summer

The global climate crisis this week returned to its deserved, if neglected, spot on the world agenda after the United Nations’ climate agency, the IPCC, released a damning report that painted a bleak picture for the world unless deep cuts in global carbon emissions are undertaken.

The IPCC report states without doubt that human activity has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. Each of the last four decades has been successively warmer than any decade that preceded it since 1850.

The report attributed well-mixed Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) as the main driver of tropospheric warming since 1979, contributing to a warming of 1°C to 2°C.

The IPCC said it is “virtually certain” that the global upper ocean has warmed since the 1970s, due to human influence and human-caused carbon dioxide emissions driving global acidification of the surface open ocean.

The IPCC warned that the land surface will continue to warm at a faster pace than the ocean surface, with the Arctic expected to warm more than the global surface temperature.

EU 55% emissions target

The European Union’s European Green Deal pledges to fight climate change by decoupling economic growth from resource use, and ensuring no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050.

The Green Deal’s Fit For 55% package includes reforms on renewables and energy taxation, including a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, and an Energy Tax Directive.

One of these laws incentivises clean energy for the transport sector, but includes taxing kerosene for aviation and maritime sectors over the next decade.

Yet the Maltese business lobby in Brussels, which represents the Chamber of Commerce and hoteliers’ lobby MHRA, has warned that these rules could negatively impact seafaring nations like Malta, which is entirely dependent on these two sectors for cargo trade and tourism activity.

Enterprise and energy minister Miriam Dalli said the government will be making its case for special consideration in the EU’s Green Deal, to safeguard certain crucial industries.

And as many Mediterranean regions experienced major wildfires due to increased drought and heatwaves, Dalli last week defended the government’s position to seek special status in EU talks. She said an international agreement was needed in order to address climate change while ensuring a level economic playing-field, but warned that any kerosene tax would have an upward effect on prices.

Yet it is instances like these that appeal to betray Malta’s fear of tackling climate change forcefully enough.

A 2020 working document drafted by the European Commission offered a review of Malta’s national energy and climate plan, but commented that it was unambitious with its renewable energy targets, while setting high-level objectives on energy security – a more politically favourable area for Maltese governments.

In its plan, Malta put forward an 11.5% target share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption. The Commission not only dubbed this unambitious, but added that it is below the minimum share of 21%.

Several NGOs noted this in their submissions to the consultation, remarking on a reluctance in some areas to implement comprehensive change. They even noticed a lack of emphasis on short term solutions in energy, construction and agricultural sectors, as well as an “over-reliance on vague future technologies”.

Carbon-neutral targets

Green party ADPD last week called for all new property development to be self-sufficient and therefore carbon neutral.

Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo said that it was not enough that developers make up for their development with solar farms, but said self-sufficient energy should be generated on the spot. 

He said solar water heaters and photovoltaic cells should also come into effect when one renovates a building. “Whoever refuses to comply, should not be allowed to carry out with the development,” Cacopardo said.

He also called for a national strategy for transport, as recent studies had shown that 50% of trips by private cars take less than 15 minutes. “We should be incentivising the public to use less cars and that is the reason why we spoke against the numerous road projects, which encourage people to keep using their car,” he said.