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Rising Mediterranean threatens Nile Delta

ALEXANDRIA (Egypt): Millions of Egyptians could be forced permanently from their homes, the country’s ability to feed itself devastated. That’s what likely awaits this already impoverished and overpopulated nation by the end of the century, if predictions about climate change hold true.

The World Bank describes Egypt as particularly vulnerable to the effects of global warming, saying it faces potentially “catastrophic” consequences.

“The situation is serious and requires immediate attention. Any delay would mean extra losses,” said Mohamed el-Raey, an environmental scientist at Alexandria University.

A big reason is the vulnerability of Egypt’s breadbasket — the Nile Delta, a fan-shaped area of rich, arable land where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea.

Although the Delta makes up only 2.5 per cent of Egypt’s land mass, it is home to more than a third of this largely desert country’s 80 million population.

The Delta was already in danger, threatened by the side effects of southern Egypt’s Aswan Dam.

Though the dam, completed in 1970, generates much-needed electricity and controls Nile River flooding, it also keeps nutrient sediment from replenishing the eroding Delta.

Add climate change to the mix, and the Delta faces new uncertainties that could have a potentially more devastating effect on Egypt.

Scientists generally predict that the Mediterranean, and the world’s other seas, would rise between one foot (30 centimeters) and 3.3 feet (one meter) by the end of the century, flooding coastal areas along the Delta.

Already, the Mediterranean has been creeping upward about .08 inches annually for the last decade, flooding parts of Egypt’s shoreline, Mr. el-Raey said.

By 2100, the rising waters could wipe out the sandy beaches that attract thousands of tourists. Also, at risk would be the buried treasures archaeologists are were still uncovering in ancient Alexandria, once the second most important city in the Roman Empire. — AP

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