Photos by Dr Edward Duca

T

he Giordan Lighthouse on the island of Gozo was built in 1851, but was decommissioned as navigation technology advanced. The 150m-high lighthouse has now been reinvented by the University of Malta (UoM) to collect atmospheric data. In 2008 the team, led by Prof. Raymond Ellul, received a European Regional Development Fund of nearly half a million Euro to upgrade the research equipment and hire additional staff. The main goal was to improve the data quality and link it to the global UN-standard air monitoring system. The data feeds into international climate change models.

Currently, five researchers (from the Department of Geosciences, Faculty of Science) work at the lighthouse, monitoring trace and greenhouse gases, aerosols, and meteorological data. Aerosols are tiny particles in the air and a significant pollutant. An inlet on the top of the lighthouse collects samples, which are distributed to individual measurement instruments inside the lighthouse. One major pollution source is shipping pollution. The waters between Malta and Sicily see one third of the world’s shipping traffic pass by. Ships are allowed to burn highly polluting fossil fuels. The Giordan Lighthouse detects spikes in pollution every time a large ship passes by.

Having in-depth knowledge of air pollution and climate change is extremely valuable. It can help inform policy makers to form the right decisions for a country’s environment and health. The research conducted by Ellul and his team helps to identify these problems, their sources, and to calculate how human-generated climate change will affect the Mediterranean Sea.