How are small island states preparing for climate change?

At the time of writing this short article, the latest scientific data shows that since the late 1880s, the Earth’s average surface temperature has increased by more than 1.18 degrees Celsius. For the Arctic region as a whole, 2020 was the second warmest year on record, with a surface temperature anomaly 2.2°C above the 1981-2010 average. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the likely range of total human-caused global surface temperature increase from [1850–1900] at [2010–2019] is 0.8°C to 1.3°C, with a best estimate of 1.07°C. This global warming is just one symptom among many that take into account careful and meticulous long-term observations of weather variables over at least 30 years.

What are the main vscause bbehind gglobal warmament?

The Earth’s climate has changed several times. Fossils from the Cretaceous period (144 to 66 million years ago) show that the Earth was much warmer than it is today. Earth has also experienced several major ice ages, including at least four in the past 500,000 years. During these periods, the Earth’s temperature decreased, causing the expansion of ice caps and glaciers. The most recent ice age began about 2 million years ago and peaked about 20,000 years ago. Since then the ice caps have receded and although they have not disappeared, they have shrunk to a fraction of their size during this interglacial period that we are currently living in.

However, over the past century, the Earth has experienced dramatic increases in temperature due to an increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting primarily from human activities. In the atmosphere, these GHGs act as a blanket, preventing heat from radiating into space; and the higher the emissions, the thicker the coverage. CO2 levels have now reached an alarming rate, a level that cannot be offset by plants or other natural processes. This phenomenon alters the global climate in many ways in the form of extreme weather events that can ultimately lead to food shortages in certain regions, loss of life and infrastructure, etc. Its effects are felt around the world.

How to do small island states getting ready for a vshanging vslimit ?

Small island states, such as Malta, are seriously threatened by global warming. Sea level rise, for example, threatens coastal dwellings and disrupts economic infrastructure along the coast. Other relevant impacts include widespread drought conditions, prolonged heat waves, higher incidences of tropical cyclones and thunderstorms. In response, we must start developing climate change adaptation plans that will provide a roadmap for Malta’s future growth and development and ensure that the country is able to tackle climate change head-on.

We now have many tools that can help us do this, from collecting and monitoring data, to modeling and analyzing projections of future changes, to using technology to increase the resilience of our community to extreme weather events.

This article is part of a project called L-Ewropej ta’ Għada. This is an initiative partly funded by the European Parliament as part of the Conference on the Future of Europe. This article reflects the views of the author only. The European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

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