If this is not a wakeup call, I don’t know what is

If you have been following global events, it is clear that climate change is real and blistering heatwaves caused by global warming are here to stay. 

According to the World Meteorological Organization and the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service: “July 2023 is on track to become the world’s hottest month on record — with some scientists saying the planet may be experiencing its warmest period in about 120,000 years.” 

Copernicus climate director Carlo Buontempo said that, “in all likelihood, we have never experienced a world so hot in modern history.” 

Locally, the ripple effect of the gruelling combo of a horrid heatwave and power cuts has taken a deathlier turn, with actual fatalities and a national hospital which cannot cope.  Although (as forecast) the fierce heat had subsided on Wednesday, the fallout from the unprecedented situation continues. 

According to the latest reports, at least 11 people died between Saturday and Tuesday in Malta, suffering symptoms of heat exhaustion and dehydration as the island was hit by the kind of temperatures one usually finds in the desert, which were exacerbated by lengthy power cuts in most areas. Of course, for all we know this number could be even higher (and the rumour mill was busy claiming that it was) but so far only 11 deaths have been directly attributed to what happened over this last week and a half. 

On Tuesday, which was probably the worst day, 500 people showed up at Mater Dei’s emergency department, resulting in chaos. The majority of patients were elderly people exhibiting all the signs of heat-related health issues, and there were reports of people waiting for as long as 14 hours to be seen. Scheduled non-urgent operations have had to be cancelled and many desperate patients resorted to private hospitals instead. More alarmingly, also on Tuesday, the hospital was without electricity for around 50 minutes when generators failed to kick in. 

The dire situation has prompted the following statement from the Malta Association of Public Health Medicine (MAPHM): “This crisis was not unforeseeable, caused by a combination of the heatwave, and ongoing power cuts. Climate change experts have warned that it is possible that heatwaves will keep on coming more frequently and at higher intensities. Coupled with the population increase, this will put more strain on Malta’s critical infrastructure.” 

It is already clear that our electricity distribution is under duress, which in itself is worrying enough, especially in places where it also affected the water supply, but when our healthcare (which we take so much for granted) is jeopardised, then the alarm bells start ringing more loudly and widespread concerns mount even further.   

If this is not a wakeup call that we need to change our ways and the completely wrong direction this country has taken, then I don’t know what is. 

A cursory look at the headlines shows that the government is scrambling to pick up the pieces and cushion the blow of the political damage. Energy Minister Miriam Dalli has announced a climate change authority “to monitor the impact of climate change and co-ordinate actions to mitigate its effects.” 

But an angry electorate, weary and worn out by too many hot, sleepless nights, is hardly going to be impressed by what sounds like another quango and more jobs for the boys and girls. More importantly, the PM said the government will be doubling its investment in the country’s distribution network, aimed at having a more robust system. 

This latter statement is what interests everyone the most in the short-term, because as this heatwave showed us, we are woefully unprepared for what looks like a recurring spike in temperatures. The announcement also confirms what was obvious to everyone these past few weeks as Enemalta workers grappled with one damaged cable after another - our infrastructure is outdated and inadequate for today’s needs.   

Over the last decade with the lax approach to what can be developed where, home owners have sold their townhouses to developers knowing full well that blocks of flats would replace them. And, as we know, once one house goes down in a street, the others follow suit. It has been the opposite of progress, because apart from ruining the sense of community, the landscape and whole neighbourhoods, all of this development with no sense of proper planning is unsustainable on a tiny island.

And this has been proven in these past few weeks (as explained to me by an electrical engineer), as the cables originally meant for one-family homes are having to feed blocks of apartments built on the same footprint.  In other countries, all utility services (water, electricity, sewage and so on) are laid down before any building starts so that they will be sufficient for whatever development is going to be built. 

Here we are tearing down houses to build flats instead and connecting a number of apartments to the existing distribution system, and then we wonder why we have power cuts. It also probably explains why some areas and streets (which have not seen rampant development) did not suffer any power cuts at all. 

In the light of this recent national emergency, as Enemalta workers toiled day and night to restore power, I would have expected our government to encourage people not to waste electricity (once it came back on that is).  After all, when there is a drought everyone tries not to waste water, so shouldn’t the same thing have happened during an energy crisis? 

Certain large scale events should have been postponed, showrooms should have turned off their lights at night, and the public should have been asked to be more mindful of turning off air conditioners when not needed (for example) which suck up so much power. 

We have already been warned to expect more power cuts if and when we are hit by another heatwave - so proper leadership demands that rather than telling us to “read a book”, guidelines should be issued on how to ease the pressure on the power supply as much as we can. In a way, one could argue that the energy subsidies which have prevented hardship to businesses and families have made us rather blasé and spoiled about the amount of electricity we use and how careless we can be with our consumption. 

In countries where there is no such safety blanket, citizens have learned how to be frugal in order not to be faced by a heart-stopping bill. Maybe what we need to do is to treat the prospect of another heatwave and more blackouts in the same way. 

Because even though we have been promised more investment in the distribution network, I cannot see this happening within the next month, when temperatures are bound to soar once again.