Temperature trends in Malta (central Mediterranean) from 1951 to 2010

Abstract

There is as yet scanty published information on climate trends at a local scale within the central Mediterranean region. This is the most updated study that focuses on detailed understanding of air temperature shifts based on standard observations gathered from the Maltese islands. This analysis leads to a number of conclusions, most significant being (1) that the rate of change in the mean temperature is ?1.1 C between 1951 and 2010, (2) a warming trend of ?1.2 and ?1.1 C exists in the maximum and minimum temperature, respectively, over the same period, (3) that the strongest anomalous warming has occurred during the last 30 years, particularly during the months of June, August and October, and (4) the local temperature trend is in the same category of air temperature trends detected in the nearby Island of Sicily (Catania, Italy), Perpignan (France) and Dar el-Beida (Algeria). Local data also show differences in the temperature trends, especially pronounced between the two 30-year periods of 1951–1980 and 1981–2010. This study provides an understanding of temperature shifts at recommended small spatio-temporal scales.