No strategy without targets

Politicians have been known to base their actions on an idea that came into their heads that very same morning. Sustainability indicators are set to change all that.

Parliamentary Secretary George Pullicino recently predicted that the National Statistics Office (NSO) should take us from a society which goes by perception to one which acts on factual data.

He was speaking at the launch of a video intended to communicate the wealth of data provided by 100 sustainability indicators while still retaining an educational and entertaining format.

Indicators give a diagnosis, mapping difficulties and shortcomings on the path to sustainable development. Knowing our strengths and our weaknesses and the resources at hand will help us address the problems.

A crisp and concise review of the state we are in was given by producer and presenter Marie Briguglio:

"Population density and inefficient land use. An increase in drivers and a decline in public transport. Energy consumption is up with greenhouse gases rising while nitrous oxides are going down.

"There is contamination of marine and ground water and so far only 13 per cent of sewage is treated (ten years ago it was half that figure). Lack of data is holding up the development of indicators on industrial waste."

With sustainability indicators raising a flag on various issues, politicians can no longer drag their feet. Targets and deadlines must now be set.

To some extent this has already happened through the EU negotiations. We have to do a certain amount by a certain date. It will no longer be the case that things get done "meta jfettlilna" (when it takes our fancy), added the Parliamentary Secretary.

If you are looking for trends in agriculture you could work with data collected every ten years. If you are looking at the growth rate of mobile phone use then a reading might be necessary every three months.

Aerial photography measuring agricultural land is expected to come up with a different figure from that obtained by registration. Since data are lacking on air pollution after 1997, we will have to wait another five years to chart a definite trend in that area.

Dr Paul Pace noted that the Maltese tend to equate quality of life with buying appliances and acquiring commodities which could signal a conflict.

For the past few years he said that Maltese graduates had been discussing the links between 'quality of life' and the quality of the environment. Sustainability should measure not just quantity but also quality.

A representative of MEPA highlighted the hotspots: sewage outfalls, yacht marinas, industrial areas. There has been a doubling of oil tankers in our waters, now standing at 900 per year. Fish populations and landings are seeing a decline at 987,000 kilos less per annum. Of 900 native plants almost half are threatened with extinction. Nearly all birds breeding in the wild are threatened.

"Maghtab is an indicator in itself, but pollution has to be measured", noted project co-ordinator Rachel Portelli. The burning dump has become so visual that our environmental ills can no longer be consigned to the out-of-sight out-of-mind bin. Malta's most shameful sight has helped to shift environmental concerns to the forefront of political awareness.

Ms Portelli expressed confidence that the National Commission for Sustainable Development will help assess new solutions for sustainable development.

For indicators to be effective a full programme of monitoring must be in place the whole time. The matter of funding is being discussed after SI-MO appealed to Government, and the NCSD, for help to continue its work.

"Hopefully we will continue to exist, then we can set targets" remarked Professor Lino Briguglio in a reference to the future of Sustainability Indicators-Malta Observatory.

The NCSD is due to adopt a strategy for sustainable development soon. This would include everything and government departments would have to come in line with it, he said. An area where we can expect some change is the large number of government vehicles frequently seen churning out black smoke from their tail pipes.

According to NSO head Alfred Camilleri, collaboration and co-operation between different institutions to put the data together has been one of the biggest hurdles.

The SI-MO project has eased access somewhat to databases belonging to different institutions with the aim of collating the information in one central database.

Writing the Malta report for the World Summit last year proved difficult when different institutions said different things about the same issue.

Having a central institution such as the NSO to gather and interpret data avoids this kind of conflict. Data that were hidden before were unlocked and made available for public and government use.

"We have the tools, now we must pick them up and use them," concluded Mr Camilleri.

Weather below the surface

The air is our first life support system. The links between the movement in different layers of the atmosphere and ocean depths create a web upon which life on the planet depends.

The ocean is in continuous movement, redistributing the phyto-plankton meadow, the basis of the marine food web, a thin layer below the surface of the ocean. This upper 100 metres is crucial and needs to be sustained. Satellites only look at the surface.

Malta is considered special in terms of its position on a ridge separating the Eastern and Western Mediterranean. The Atlantic current streams close to Malta in an East-West direction near the surface. Other currents spiral bottomward then rise close to the island.

Eddies and gyres, cyclonic and anti-cyclonic patterns in the ocean climate are triggered by wind action. They can last for weeks or months and are linked to the source of food for fish. Convergence concentrates small fish and feeding material in one area while divergence disperses it in all directions. Temperature, oxygen content and PH value (which is important for the immune and digestive system of fish) all affect marine life.

The MedGOOS initiative within the wider Global Ocean Observing System consists of several marine institutions, under UNESCO, developing an ocean monitoring system between all coastal states in the Mediterranean region. Similar to the international sharing of data on weather, the aim is to build a future system covering the whole Mediterranean.

"There will be a great leap in the economic value of ocean data and great benefits for fisheries", says project co-ordinator Dr Aldo Drago. In an age when fish provide our only large-scale food source from the wild it is becoming very important to monitor the ocean resource and its interaction with the climate.

Smoke on the water

Making personal and national commitments to environment-friendly behaviour may prove to be more far-reaching than we have previously known.

The more we understand how climate works the more the Mediterranean region begins to look like a crossroads for global pollution.

At a lecture organised by the Malta Chamber of Scientists, Professor Jos Lelieveld, director of the Atmospheric Chemistry Division at the Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany, told how a regional climate monitoring programme has shown up a crucial link between pollution generated around the world and famine in Africa.

The first thing climate scientists note when they look at the Mediterranean is the high number of hazy days when the horizon is just a blur. This is already an indication that something is wrong.

Islands in the Mediterranean may not have the best record for meeting air quality regulations. Readings taken at the lighthouse station in Gozo showed air quality limits were exceeded throughout the summer, when this is not permissible for more than 25 days in a whole year.

Athens is renowned for its urban smog, while most Maltese are uncomfortably aware of the brownish, yellow cloud streaming out, like a malevolent flag, from the island on still days.

Studies have shown that traffic fumes on Maltese roads take the crown as the major cause of the Malta plume. The runners-up, following closely behind, are the power stations.

But is the pollution all of our own making? Measurements indicate that there is more pollution in the atmosphere over the Mediterranean basin than one could expect from nearby sources.

Measurements taken by the Mediterranean Intensive Oxidant Study (MINOS) conducted jointly between Greek, German, Maltese and American universities have indicated that it is the factories, power plants and highways of not only Europe, but also Asia and America, which are effecting the Mediterranean climate.

Analysis of pollutants is sophisticated enough to know the difference between fossil fuel and bio-fuel sources in a method called finger-printing. Studies involving trace gases have helped pinpoint the sources with more certainty.

Ten to 15 kilometres high, up in the troposphere, intercontinental transfer of air masses is taking place in an easterly direction. This sweeps pollution from the burning rice paddies in Asia right across the American continent and over the Atlantic, bringing with it the added pollution from cars and factories of the United States.

Anti-cyclonic pressure systems in the Western Mediterranean and cyclonic systems in the east both trigger northerly winds pulling polluted air down over the basin.

High levels of methane over the Med are likely to have their source in the rice paddies of Asia. Wood fires used all over India for cooking are the suspected cause of high levels of carbon monoxide ending up in our region.

The source is confirmed by the presence of aceto-nitrite. A tracer for biomass burning, it is a product of incomplete combustion which is typical of wood burning.

Hardly noticeable changes in air and sea temperatures of as little as half a degree can have a devastating effect. Following the floods in Europe this winter we should be even more alert to the possibility of more rain in central and mid-North Europe as the oceans outside the Mediterranean warm.

Less rain is expected to fall in the Mediterranean and Africa as the surface water temperature of the landlocked basin cools down. It is the suspended aerosol particles which have this local rather than global effect.

Airborne dust particles called aerosols scatter sunlight. It is the finer man-made particles rather than the coarser natural ones that are causing the problem.

The scattering of solar radiation interferes with the warming of the sea by the sun. A cooler sea surface temperature means less evaporation and less formation of rain. Much of the rain would have been destined for Africa if it were not prevented from forming over the Mediterranean Sea.

The extent to which air pollution is responsible for changes in sea temperature warrants more funding for further study. It is hoped that the air quality programme being drawn up by MEPA will add impetus to the already existing monitoring facility.