Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Vulnerability risk assessment and adaptation to climate change induced sea level rise along the Mediterranean coast of Egypt

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Consequence of the sea level rise (SLR) on the Mediterranean coastal areas in Egypt, particularly the Nile River Delta, has become an issue of major concern to Egypt’s population and the government. Previous publications disregard the entire Mediterranean coast of Egypt as an integral unit subject to the impacts of the SLR. This study aims to analyzing the risks, ranking the vulnerability and suggesting adaptation measures to mitigate the impact of the SLR along the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. Although the prominent features of Egypt’s Mediterranean coastal zone are the low lying coast of the Nile Delta, associated with land subsidence, tectonic activities and erosion; the contiguous coastal sectors are backed by shore-parallel carbonate ridges and Plateau (the western coast) and sand dune belts (Sinai coast). The coastal zone is ranked as high, moderate, and low vulnerable to the SLR. The social and biophysical vulnerabilities demonstrate the asymmetrical impacts of the SLR on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. Areas at risk in the Alexandria region are Mandara and El Tarh whereas in the Nile Delta region, they are the Manzala Lagoon barrier, east and west of the Rosetta City, Gamil, and the Tineh plain. Risk associated with these impacts may be reduced provided the consideration of immediate and adequate adaptation measures.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Badawy A (2005) Present-day seismicity, stress field and crustal deformation of Egypt. J Seismol 9:267–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker R, Sultan M (2009) Land subsidence in the Nile delta: inferences from radar interferometry. Holocene J 19:949–954

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broadus JJ, Milliman S, Edwards D, Aubrey G (1986) Rising sea level and damming of rivers: possible effects in Egypt and Bangladesh. In: Titus J (ed) Effect of changes, stratospheric ozone and global climate, 4. pp 165–189

  • Butzer KW (1960) On the Pleistocene shorelines of Arabs’ Gulf, Egypt. J Geol 68:626–637

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Church JA, White NJ, Hunter JR, Lambeck K (2008) Briefing: a post-IPCC AR4 update on sea-level rise. Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre

  • Coleman JM, Robert HH, Murray SP, Salama M (1981) Morphology and dynamic sedimentology of the eastern Nile delta shelf. J Marine Geol 42:301–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coutellier V, Stanley DJ (1987) Late Quaternary stratigraphy and paleogeography of the Eastern Nile delta, Egypt. J Marine Geol 27:257–275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deabes EA (2003) The study of sea level changes and currents at Rosetta and Damietta outlets and Abu Qir Bay. MSc Dissertation, Alexandria University, p 242

  • DEFRA (2012) Climate change risk assessment. Method for undertaking the CCRA Part II—detailed method for Stage 3: Assess Risk. UK, p 114

  • EEA (2005) Vulnerability and adaptation to climate change in Europe. EEA Technical report No 7/2005, ISSN 1725–2237, p 79

  • El Asmar H, Wood P (2000) Quaternary shoreline development: the northwestern coast of Egypt. J Qatar Sci Rev 19:1137–1140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • El Raey M, Dewidar K, El Hattab M (1999) Adaptation to the impact of sea level rise in Egypt. Clim Res J 12:117–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • El Sayed MKh (1996) Rising sea-level and subsidence of the Northern Nile delta: a case study. In: Milliman JD, Haq BU (eds) Sea-level rise and coastal subsidence: causes, consequences and strategies. Kluwer, pp 215–233

  • El Sharnouby B, Soliman A (2010) Shoreline response for long wide and deep submerged breakwater of Alexandria City, Egypt. Paper presented at the 26th International Conference on Seaports and Maritime Transport, Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport, Alexandria, Egypt, 2010, p 11

  • Fanos AM, Frihy OE, Khafagy AA, Komar PD (1991) Processes of shoreline change along the Nile delta coast of Egypt. Paper presented at the Coastal Sediments ’91 Conference, Seattle, Washington, 1991, 2:1547–1557

  • Frihy OE (2003) The Nile delta-Alexandria coast: vulnerability to sea-level rise, consequences and adaptation. J MITI 8:115–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Frihy OE, Komar PD (1993) Long-term shoreline changes and the concentration of heavy minerals in beach sands of the Nile delta, Egypt. Marine Geol J 115:253–261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frihy OE, Deabes EA, Shereet SM, Abdalla FA (2010) Alexandria-Nile delta coast of Egypt: update and future projection of relative sea-level rise. J Environ Earth Sci 61:1866–6299

    Google Scholar 

  • Gafrd (2007) General Authority for Fish Resources Development, Egypt. Annual Fishery Statistics. Report 2007

  • Garziglia S, Migeon S, Ducassou E, Loncke L, Mascle J (2008) Mass-transport deposits on the Rosetta province (NW Nile deep-sea turbidite system, Egyptian margin): characteristics, distribution, and potential causal processes. J Marine Geol 250:180–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grinsted A, Moore JC, Jevrejeva S (2009) Reconstructing sea level from paleo and projected temperatures 200 to 2100AD. Clim Dyn. doi:10.1007/s00382-008-0507-2

  • Horton RC, Herweijer C, Rosenzweig J, Gornitz V, Ruane AC (2008) Sea level rise projections for current generation CGCMs based on the semi-empirical method. Geophys Res J, Letter 35:L02715. doi:2007/2007GL032486

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IDSC/UNDP (2011) Egypt’s national strategy for adaptation to climate change and disaster risk reduction. The Egyptian Cabinet, Information and Decision Support Centre, Cairo, p 166

    Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2001) Climate change 2001: impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability—contribution of working group II to the IPCC Third Assessment Report, Cambridge University Press, 572 pp

  • IPCC (2007) Climate change 2007: synthesis report. Contribution of working groups I, II and III to the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In: Pachauri RK, Reisinger A (eds) Core writing team. IPCC, Geneva, p 104

    Google Scholar 

  • Lövkvist-Andersen AL, Olsson R, Ritchey T, Stenström M (2004) Modeling society’s capacity to manage extraordinary events. Presented at the conference of the SRA (Society for Risk Analysis), Paris, 15–17 November 2004, p 11

  • METAP “Mediterranean Environmental Technical Assistance Program” (2005) Strenghtening of the capacity in selected METAP countries to assess the cost of environmental degradation in coastal areas. Cost of Environmental Degradation in Coastal Areas of Egypt. Interim Report, p 84

  • Misdorp R, Sestini G (1975) The Nile delta: main features of the continental shelf topography. Presented at the Seminar on the Nile delta Sedimentology, Alexandria, Egypt, pp 45–161

  • Neev D, Greenfield L, Hall JK (1985) Slice tectonic in the Eastern Mediterranean basin. In: Stanley DJ, Wezel FC (eds) Geological evolution of the Mediterranean basin. Springer, New York, pp 249–269

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls RJ, Klein RJ (2000) Adaptation frameworks for sea-level rise impacts. SURVAS-Database, URL. http://www.survas.mdx.ac.uk

  • Nicholls RJ, Hoozemans FM, Marchand M (1999) Increasing flood risk and wetland losses due to global sea-level rise: regional and global analyses. J Global Environmental Change 9:S69–S87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls RS, Hanson C, Herweijer N, Patmore J, Corfee-Morlot J, Chateau, Muir-Wood R (2008) Ranking port cities with high exposure and vulnerability to climate extremes. OECD Environment Working Papers No. 1, OECD Publications, Paris, p 10

  • Orlova G, Zenkovitch V (1974) Erosion of the shores of the Nile delta. Geoforum J 18:68–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Said R (1962) Geology of Egypt. Elsevier, Amsterdam, p 377

    Google Scholar 

  • Said R (1981) The geological evolution of the River Nile. Springer, New York, p 151

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sestini G (1984) Tectonic and sedimentary history of the NE African margin (Egypt—Libya). In: Dixon JE, Robertson AH (eds) The geological evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 61–175

    Google Scholar 

  • Sestini G (1989) Nile delta: a review of depositional environments and geological history. In: Whateley KG, Pikering KT (eds) Deltas sites and traps for fossil fuels. Blackwell, London, Geological Society Special Publication, 41. pp 99–127

  • Sestini G (1992) Implications of climate change for the Nile delta. In: Jeftic L, Milliman JD, Sestini G (eds) Climate change and the Mediterranean. Environmental and societal impacts of climate and sea-level rise in the Mediterranean Sea. Edward Arnold, London, pp 533–601

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanley DJ, Goodfriend GA (1997) Recent subsidence of the northern Suez Canal. Sci Corresp J 388:335–336

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanley DJ, Toscano MA (2009) Ancient archaeological sites buried and submerged along Egypt’s Nile delta coast: gauges of Holocene delta margin subsidence. J Coast Res 25:158–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanley DJ, Warne AG (1993) Nile delta: recent geological evolution and human impacts. Sci J 260:628–634

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UN/UNFCCC (2009) Copenhagen accord, draft decision/CP 15, 7–19 December 2009, p 43

  • Warne AG, Stanley DG (1993) Late Quaternary evolution of the Northwest Nile delta and adjacent coast in the Alexandria region, Egypt. J Coast Res 1:26–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Zaghloul ZM, Elgamal MM, El Araby H, AbdelWahab W (1999) Evidences of neotectonics and ground motions in the Northern Nile delta. In: Zaghloul ZM, Elgamal MM (eds) Deltas-modern and ancient, First International Symposium on the Deltas, Mansoura University, Egypt, pp 209–217

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Coastal Research Institute, 15 El Pharaana Street, El Shallalat, 21514, Alexandria, Egypt

    Omran E. Frihy

  2. Department of Oceanography, Faculty of Science, University of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt

    Mahmoud Kh. El-Sayed

Authors
  1. Omran E. Frihy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mahmoud Kh. El-Sayed
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Omran E. Frihy.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Frihy, O.E., El-Sayed, M.K. Vulnerability risk assessment and adaptation to climate change induced sea level rise along the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 18, 1215–1237 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-012-9418-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-012-9418-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation