Egypt (sea level rise)

“The Nile Delta is one of the three most vulnerable areas to the sea level rise threat in the world” (Solynem & Monan, 2020).

The Mediterranean city of Alexandria with a population of more than 5 million people and a UNESCO World Heritage site faces rising risks from flooding and erosion caused by the rising sea level (Hemeda, 2021).

Other Egyptian cities at risk of rising sea levels include Port Said, Damietta, and Rosetta. Some of these cities have been hosting emergency archaeological digs to spare Nubian artefacts  from places like ​​Abu Simbel (UNESCO, n.d.).

Rising sea levels also result in saltwater intrusions contaminating freshwater sources and aquifers. Seawater intrusion in Egypt has been documented along the northwestern coast and in the Sinai Peninsula (Eissa, de Dreuzy and Parker, 2018).

Encroaching water is threatening to make Egypt uninhabitable by 2100 and risking country-wide fresh water shortages by 2025 (Stanley and Clemente, 2017).

Read more about sea level rise here.