Photo of Victorian era 'Roman baths' misinterpreted to dispute climate change

What is the claim?

Social media users have shared a photo of a seaside with "bath-like" structures, claiming it shows Malta's "Roman baths," which are thousands of years old but still at sea level. They are implying it is proof that climate change is not a genuine concern. 

"Roman tidal baths in Malta - still at sea level after thousands of years! Best ask what your children are being taught," said the text inscribed on the photo in a Facebook post that has been shared 500 times so far. The photo was also shared on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption, "Roman tidal baths on Malta - still at sea level after thousands of years. But - climate change is about to kill us all. Right?" This particular post has received 2.6 million views so far. Multiple Facebook users have posted the same photo with similar claims. Archived versions can be seen here and here. 

The screenshot shows multiple Facebook users posting the viral photo with similar claims. (Source: Screenshots/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the viral photo was taken in 2019 and shows structures not from the Roman era but from the Victorian era. Further, sea levels have risen globally by eight to nine inches since 1880. 

What are the facts?

A reverse image search led us to an Instagram post (archived here) from March 22, 2019, by an account named Julia Kivelä, who identifies as a photographer on Instagram. The caption said, "Amazing pools in Sliema. Try to spot me." Silema is a town in Malta where the "Roman baths" are located. 

A screenshot of the post by Julia Kivelä. (Source: Screenshot/Instagram/Julia Kivelä)

Malta's 'Roman baths' are not from the Roman era

We found some Facebook posts carrying similar photos of the baths (archived here and here) by the Department of Information, Malta, which stated that although they are known as "Roman Baths," they were probably constructed in the Victorian era. "These were private baths, dug into the rock in a square shape and slightly shallow so that they could be used even by people who do not know how to swim," one of the posts explained. 

Malta Today, an English newspaper published in Malta, stated in a 2018 article titled "Heritage in a pool: The story told by the Sliema baths," that the pools "probably date back to the 19th or early 20th centuries."

A 2012 research paper titled "Holocene sea level change in Malta" mentions them as "Victorian Age baths along the Eastern coast of Malta," of English architectural style, and built towards the end of the 19th and early 20th century. "Some of these baths were built in high-energy zones, exposed to the strong northeasterly storms that blow in the winter. Therefore, It is unsurprising to find that some sites are eroded more than others. This may give the impression that some of the sites are significantly older," the paper notes. It also added that "the soft Globigerina Limestone allowed easy carving of coastal baths that were widely used during the late 19th Century."

The Victorian era refers to the period roughly between 1820 and 1914. Malta was a Crown Colony of the United Kingdom from 1814 until 1964 when it was granted independence and joined the British Commonwealth. 

Global warming and sea level rise

Scientists have found that global warming is causing global mean sea level to rise. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a part of the U.S. Department of Commerce that monitors oceanic conditions globally, "Global mean sea level has risen about 8–9 inches (21–24 centimeters) since 1880. The rising water level is mostly due to a combination of meltwater from glaciers and ice sheets and thermal expansion of seawater as it warms."

Logically Facts contacted Aldo Drago, a Professor in Oceanography based in Malta, who set up the Physical Oceanography Unit at the University of Malta and has conducted sea level measurements in the region since 1993.

"Today we have irrefutable data from satellites and in situ observations, amongst which sea level and sea temperature, that measure the undisputed effects of climate change. Sea level changes are a consequence of a number of different factors such as climatic forcing, thermo-hyrodynamic effects, tectonic activity, anthropogenic effects and glacio- isostatic adjustment which add up to integrate the overall relative rise or fall in sea level with ample differences from site to site," Professor Drago told Logically Facts. 

Difference between local and global sea levels

There is a difference between local and global sea levels, and the rise at specific locations may be more or less than the global average due to many local factors. The Malta baths still being visibly at sea level is, therefore, not an indication of whether sea levels have been rising or falling globally.

According to NOAA, "Rates of local sea level (dots) on the coast can be larger than the global average due to geological processes like ground settling or smaller than the global average due to processes like the centuries-long rebound of land masses from the loss of ice-age glaciers."

"In the Mediterranean Sea, sea level changes are highly non-uniform across the basin, deriving primarily from differences in the large-scale circulation of the basin and can vary significantly from the global averages. In particular, one must distinguish between eustatic and non-isostatic changes. The latter is a result of a local rise and fall in land levels. The former relates to variations on water levels as a result of changes in sea water volumes," Professor Drago further explained while talking about the sea level trends in and around Malta, an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. 

Sea level trends in Malta

Explaining the sea level trends in the Mediterranean Sea, Professor Drago said, "Sea level gauge records indicate that the eustatic sea level in the Mediterranean rose at an average rate 1 – 2 mm/year during the 20th century (Calafat et. al, 2022), but these trends have changed in time. Between 1960 and 1989, sea level in the Mediterranean actually fell at an average rate of −0.3 ± 0.5 mm/year."

He also stated that after 1989, the Mediterranean Sea level started accelerating rapidly, and in Malta, measurements conducted by the Physical Oceanography Unit show a trend of + 3 mm/year. 

Monthly sea level observations in Marsaxlokk Bay (south-eastern Region of Malta) measured by the sea level gauge operated by Transport Malta. Time series spans four years (2019 to 2022). (Source: Professor Aldo Drago)

"In recent years sea level has been rising faster. The linear trend over the four years between 2019 and 2022 is 1.4 cm/year, but the very strong seasonal signature (of the order of 0.9 m) on the sea level variability disguises such trends which are not easy to measure, especially without long time series of data," he added. 

The verdict

The "Roman baths" that were cited as being "at sea level after thousands of years" to disprove climate change are from the Victorian age and, therefore, cannot be valid evidence of sea level changes for "thousands of years." Moreover, it has been scientifically proven that global warming is causing the global mean sea level to rise, and the local sea level recordings can vary from the global average due to many local factors. Also, the Mediterranean Sea level has started accelerating rapidly in recent years, and the recordings taken in Malta reflect this. We, therefore, conclude that the claim is false.