Rising sea levels to affect Malta

In view of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that has reported today on how global warming will impact the world, BBC World Service environment reporter Matt McGrath came to Malta to see how rising waters "could make life more difficult on the island in future". McGrath writes that emission cuts required by the EU "could hamper Malta's tourist industry". From BBC News:

About 400,000 people live on the tiny island of Malta. It is one of the most crowded spaces in the world. It is also highly vulnerable to climate change. Rising sea levels in the Mediterranean over the next century caused by global warming threaten to submerge parts of the island. But there is another aspect to sea level rise that is already having a significant effect on Malta. It is the impact on the supply of drinking water.

In the tourist season Malta's population trebles. All these extra people put great pressure on the island's water supply, which depends on a vast reservoir that lies under the island. Because the fresh water is less dense than salt water, this reserve effectively floats on the sea. Down the centuries, the Maltese have developed a clever system of underground tunnels, called galleries, to extract the water for human consumption..

..As a member of the European Union, the Maltese are already facing sanctions for failing to co-operate on carbon cutbacks with Brussels. Cutting their emissions will not be easy, according to Dr Christopher Chaintor who is responsible for environmental policy within the Maltese ministry of rural affairs and the environment. He says that the people of Malta will want to see climate change impacts first before they are willing to spend money changing their lifestyles.

New predictions for the Mediterranean area suggest that heat waves and droughts will become much more common - and the seas will continue to rise. To deal with these problems, the EU says that serious emission cuts must be made across Europe. These cutbacks could hamper Malta's tourist industry - and that is an option few local politicians would like to embrace.