I refer to the article reporting the climate change symposium (January 8) organised by the University's International Relations Department. The article mostly quotes the politicians and those with political connections but left out what Earth scientists or geologists had said on climate change and its impacts. As a result, readers were misled to think that climate change is not happening.

The article quotes biologist Alan Deidun from the University's Physical Oceanography Unit who claimed that, "contrary to popular belief", sea-level around Malta has fallen slightly. This is a misleading statement which gives the impression that the overall sea-level is not rising as would be expected during global warming. Data from the Grand Harbour tide gauge shows that the average sea-level trend over a 20-year period is rising at an annual rate of about 5mm, which is higher than the global average sea-level rise. Whereas there are temporary falls in sea-level, these are related to cyclic astronomical controls and local environmental factors over a short time-scale, which do not represent the overall trend in sea-level change.

Dr Deidun's mistaken assertion was also repeated by Ing. Marco Cremona who happens to be on Malta's climate change committee which is supposed to prepare this country for the impacts of climate change.

Mr Cremona concluded that the Prime Minister of Malta was "misinformed" when he told the Copenhagen summit that sea-level was rising. It seems that it is Malta's climate change committee which is misinformed, and not surprisingly; unlike its British counterpart, the local committee on climate change does not have a single Earth scientist on board.

Ing. Cremona was reported as saying that "our ground water sources will be gone before climate change happens" and that Malta's groundwater will "vanish" in 15 years. It is alarming that a member of Malta's climate change committee believes that climate change is not "happening". The assertion that Malta's groundwater is "vanishing" is a misleading exaggeration. Basic geological knowledge shows that large tracts of the mean sea-level aquifer have not been exploited and remain poorly understood, whereas large quantities of freshwater (more than that extracted legally) is leaking through natural geological structures into the sea.

Some parts of the aquifer show very high levels of salinity due to over-extraction (as happens in other Mediterranean islands) which can be reversed by regulating extraction.

However, the main problem remains the contamination of Malta's aquifer by waste and additives. For example, a recent study by the British Geological Survey shows that the aquifers of the Maltese islands have some of the highest concentrations of nitrate in Europe.

Malta's climate change committee will become a disservice to the country if it bases its conclusions on incorrect interpretations of scientific data. Climate change is happening and Malta needs to mitigate the impacts.