No, 'Roman' baths don't disprove climate change or sea level rise | Fact check
The claim: Malta's 'Roman tidal baths,' built thousands of years ago, show climate change isn't happening
A June 30 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a photo of what appears to be the seaside "Roman baths" attraction in Sliema, Malta.
"Roman tidal baths on Malta – still at sea level after thousands of years," reads the caption. "But – climate change is about to kill us all. Right?"
The post, which is a screenshot of a post on X, formerly Twitter, garnered more than 7,000 likes in a week.
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Our rating: False
The existence of climate change or global sea level rise cannot be determined based on the status of one landmark, researchers say. Average global sea levels have risen as climate change causes seawater to warm and polar ice to melt, though the effects vary by location. Archeological evidence shows the Malta baths were not constructed by the Romans thousands of years ago, but instead by the English within the last 200 years.
Sea level rise determined through global average, varies in different locales
Multiple climate research organizations have documented sustained overall warming of Earth's climate since the late 1800s. Researchers have also documented the consequences of this warming, which includes sea level rise.
Global warming causes sea levels to rise because water expands as it warms and because melting polar and glacial ice contributes additional water into ocean basins. Through these processes, average global sea levels have risen around 8-9 inches since 1880, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
However, a single locale, such as the "Roman baths" in Malta, cannot be used to detect how much global sea level rise (or global climate change) has occurred. This is because sea level change in any given area could be larger or smaller than the global average.
For instance, in Grand Isle, Louisiana, sea levels have risen at a rate equivalent to three feet per hundred years, since 1950. But in Anchorage, Alaska, area sea levels have dropped at a rate equivalent to more than half a foot per hundred years since 1970.
According to NOAA, local sea levels can vary because of:
Vertical movement of land due to natural processes or human activity
Geographic differences in current and wind patterns
Gravitational force changes as mass is redistributed on Earth due to glacier and ice sheet melt
USA TODAY was not able to obtain local sea level rise data for Malta.
Fact check: Sea level rise detected worldwide, including near Sugarloaf Mountain in Brazil
Evidence suggests Malta 'Roman baths' built during Victorian Era
Malta's "Roman baths" are not thousands of years old, according to researchers and a local government agency.
A 2012 research paper reported that seaside baths were built in Malta during the late 19th century or early 20th century. The researchers wrote that the design of the baths is recognizable as Victorian Era (the period between 1820 and 1914) English construction.
Malta was a colony of the U.K. from 1814-1964.
The research paper includes an image of a Victorian Era planning document for the Sliema baths.
In a Facebook post written in Maltese, the Malta Department of Information wrote that the "Roman baths" were constructed during the Victorian Era.
The image in the Instagram post was posted by a different Instagram account in 2019. That post is captioned: "Amazing pools in Sliema. Try to spot me."
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USA TODAY reached out to the Instagram user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response. The X user could not be reached.
PolitiFact and Check Your Fact also debunked the post.
Our fact-check sources:
Quaternary International, January 2021, Holocene sea level change in Malta
Malta Department of Information, June 24, 2022, Facebook post (archive)
Britannica, accessed July 8, Victorian era
NOAA Tides and Currents, accessed July 8, Sea level trends
NOAA Tides and Currents, accessed July 8, Grand Isle, Louisiana
NOAA Tides and Currents, accessed July 8, Anchorage, Alaska
NOAA, April 19, 2022, Climate Change: Global Sea Level
NOAA, accessed July 8, What is glacial isostatic adjustment?
NOAA, Aug. 24, 2023, What is subsidence?
NOAA, Aug. 10, 2017, Tracking sea level rise ... and fall
Office of the Historian, accessed July 8, A Guide to the United States’ History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country, since 1776: Malta
USA TODAY, June 26, Experts say Earth was cooler, not warmer, 55,000 years ago
USA TODAY, April 29, Climate science is sound. Satellite timelapse doesn't disprove sea level rise
NASA Vital Signs of the Planet, accessed July 8, Ice sheets
NASA Vital Signs of the Planet, accessed July 8, Sea level
NASA Vital Signs of the Planet, accessed July 8, Global Temperature
Carbon Brief, April 28, 2021, Melting glaciers drove ‘21% of sea level rise’ over past two decades
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, 'Roman' baths don't disprove climate change | Fact check
