The rising levels of the Nile Delta are beginning to endanger many of the crops and food supply in Egypt. Most of Egypt’s 80 million people are crammed into the fertile landscape, where the Nile ends its epic journey half the length of Africa, and fans out into a series of tributaries and lakes, before flowing into the Mediterranean. Egypt’s coastline has risen 20 cm in the last century and as it continues to rise, salt-water infiltrates the delta’s soil from below and is destroying the farming land. Currently, about fifteen percent of Delta land is under threat from these rising sea levels and the seepage of salt water into ground water. Experts believe that by the end of this century, it would not be unreasonable for the rise in sea level to be somewhere around 100 centimeters. If this is accurate, this could threaten the city of Alexandria where millions of people currently live.
Title: Rising Waters Threaten Nile Delta
Author: Barnaby Philllips
Student Researcher: Jason Nelson
Source: Aljazeera English; URL: http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/03/2010320173938700403.html
Date: March 21, 2010
Student Researcher: Jason Nelson
Faculty Evaluator: Noel Byrne Ph.D.
Sonoma State University