Climate Change Poses Threat to Egypt’s Farming, Tourism, Water Supply (Video)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffl4MMGLLPk&feature=related[/youtube]

This light-hearted clip bears a serious warning of what Egypt might look like in 2150.

Climate change threatens to drastically reduce Egypt’s agricultural production and water supplies, the head of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency’s climate change unit warned in an interview with Reuters. El Sayed Sabry also noted that key tourist destinations are at risk.

“We are looking at an expected loss of 10-12% of agricultural land, the bulk of which is threatened to flood. But more importantly, most such land will lose fertility and productive capacity,” Sabry told Reuters.

Wheat production could fall by 15% by 2050 if temperatures increase by two degrees Celsius and up to 36% if temperatures rise by four degrees, he noted. (Egypt is already the world’s largest importer of wheat.)

With the projected increases in temperature, parts of the low-lying Nile Delta, where nearly half of the country’s crops are grown, would be submerged or soaked in salt water. As noted in a recent climate change powwow in Israel, millions of climate refugees would be created in this scenario. (Over a third of Egypt’s 78 million people live in the Nile Delta.)

Similarly, popular tourist destinations could be devastated by climate change, as increased acidity destroys coral reefs in the Red Sea and rising seawater washes away Mediterranean beaches. “Climate change will permanently alter the attraction of some holiday regions,” Sabry said. (Tourism contributes about 11% of Egypt’s GDP.)

Another major challenge could be a decline in the flow of the Nile River: A rise in temperature of 2-4 degrees Celsius would decrease its flow by 88-98% according to a recent study. (The Nile provides Egypt with some 87% of its water, most of which is used for farming.)

:: Reuters

More Green Prophet posts on climate change:

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