Egypt: Land Degradation Issues with Special Reference to the Impact of Climate Change - Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - page 108

Egypt's entire economy. Observations confirm that sea-levels are already rising
in the Nile delta due to a combination of factors including coastal subduction
and reduced sediment loads due to the construction of the High Aswan Dam
upstream. Land subsidence is currently estimated at 1-5 mm/year.

• The coastal zone of Egypt extends for more than 3,000 km and is the home for

more than 40 % of the population. Most of these people live in and around
a number of very important and highly populated industrial and commercial
cities: Alexandria, Port Said, Damietta, Rosetta and Suez. The coastal zone
of Egypt suffers from a number of serious problems, including a high rate of
population growth, land subsidence, excessive erosion rates, water logging, salt
water intrusion, soil salinization, ecosystem pollution and degradation, and lack
of appropriate institutional management systems. Realizing the importance of
this zone, the Egyptian government has already taken steps towards reducing the
impact of these problems.

• Egypt is potentially one of the countries most at risk from the effects of climate

change. It is located in an arid - to semi-arid zone. Its only source of water, the
River Nile, provides more than 95 % of all water available to the country. The
source of this water lies far to the south, from rainfall on Ethiopian hills (86 %)
and equatorial lakes (14 %). Most of the population of Egypt (over 60 million
people in total) is associated with the agricultural sector which constitutes 20 %
of gross national products and consumes about 80 % of the water budget.

• Egypt is taking the issue of climate change seriously. The Nile Delta and coastal

zones are prone to flooding due, in part, to rising sea levels. Climate change
will potentially negatively affect agricultural productivity as a result of increased
average temperature. Human health is also at risk due to climate change. The
increased temperatures might lead to the outspread of vector-borne diseases.
Coral reefs are one of Egypt's natural resources that climate change adversely
affects. Egypt seeks the help and support of the international community to
mitigate the impact of climate change.

Keywords Sea level rise • Climate change • Tourism • Population pressure •
Irrigation • Land reclamation • Desert research Center • Wind power • Nile
River • Nile Delta • Sea water incursion • Aswan dam • Lake Nasser •
Oasis • Temperature rise • Rangelands • Biodiversity • Desertification • Salinity
• Sodicity • Sudan • Libya • Israel • Mediterranean Sea • Red Sea • Gulf of
Suez • Gulf of Aqaba • El Fayoum • Sinai Peninsular • Cairo • Alexandria •
Rosetta • Lake Moeris • Coastline

1 Geography of Egypt

Egypt covers an area of approximately 1,001,450 km 2 and is bordered by Israel, the
Gaza Strip, in the north-east, the Red Sea in the East; Sudan in the south; Libya in the
west; and the Mediterranean sea coast in the north. Egypt is the third most populous