Malta’s climate in 2050 will be like Tel Aviv

Malta may have doubled up for Tel Aviv in the Hollywood blockbuster film Munich but in 30 years’ time the climate will resemble that of the Israeli city.

New research suggests that by 2050, Malta’s annual average temperature will increase by 1.7 degrees Celsius, giving the country a climate similar to what Tel Aviv has today.

The average temperature in the warmest month will increase by 3.5 degrees Celsius, while that in the coldest month will go up by 2.4 degrees Celsius.

The findings come from a study of 520 major cities published in journal Plos One and indicate some dramatic changes, mostly for countries in the northern latitudes.

In Europe, cities will on average be 3.5 degrees Celsius warmer in summer and 4.7 degrees Celsius in winter.

London will have a climate that resembles today’s Barcelona, Moscow today’s Sofia and Stockholm today’s Vienna. Rome will have a climate that resembles today’s Adana, a city in south east Turkey.

The analysis conducted by Crowther Lab in Switzerland shows that 77% of the cities around the world will experience a striking change of climate conditions, with 22% encountering conditions that currently do not exist.

But it is not just higher temperatures that people will have to deal with. The change in climate patterns will also bring drier weather in the summer season and wetter weather in winter, as cities become prone to flash floods.