The severe heatwave that has recently hit different parts of the world as direct consequence of global warming has raise peoples concern, not just environmentalists as has always been the case. In addition to the many deaths recorded in some countries as a result of heatwaves and the related wildfires, people feel very concerned about climate risks due to the expected rises in sea levels, growing droughts and water shortages in various parts to the world. The problem is that this phenomenon started to be reflected on the demographic distribution of people and the emergence of the so-called climate refugees.
In April this year, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees issued a report warning that climate- and weather-related disasters cause the displacement of more than 20 million people a year. Another study conducted by the Australian Institute for Economics and Peace suggests that more than a billion people could be displaced by such climate disasters by 2050.
Apparently, no country would be immune from such climate-related disasters and their tragic consequences on the people’s life. Countries that experience heat waves and at the same time enjoy wide areas of forests could face fierce wildfires and therefore increase global warming. Those countries, which have large areas of desert would suffer increasing desertification and drought. Meanwhile, countries that consist of islands or have low-lying coastal zones would be vulnerable to sea-level rise and coastal storms. Some experts put the number of people living in such zones at some 700 million who would either be forced to migrate to a higher zone or would be wiped out by rising seas.
The question is what should we do to mitigate this disaster on future of life on this planet?
Climate activists continued warning world leaders against the excess use of fusel fuel, the greenhouse emissions and polluting industrial activities that caused the global warming. However, most of the industrial countries continued turning deaf ears towards such warning till the risk knocked on their doors. Even with the commitments the world leaders started making to lessen greenhouse emissions or turning to renewable sources of energy to curb this continuous rise of global temperature, the result was so minor if compared to these dramatic climate changes in today’s world. Hence, we should start considering ways of dealing with such inevitable disaster.
On the world level, the international institutions should oppose any projects not friendly to the environment. Green parties should play greater role in the decision making and governments should start consider creating new communities to absorb the expected migration of the people from the highly dangerous zones such as the coastal regions and the rivers’ deltas to some other safer locations.
Egypt, for example, might lose wide spaces of its Delta, which comprises around 63 per cent of its fertile land on rise of the sea level. Considering the fact that 95 per cent of the population of Egypt are living in the Nile Valley and Delta that form just 5.5 of Egypt’s area, one could imagine the catastrophic consequences of climate changes and its related sea level rise on future of this nation.
So, while joining the international community in the ongoing efforts to contain the global warming, Egypt needs to create more urban and agricultural communities away from the Nile Delta.
It should be noted that the River Nile remains the main source of water for the Egyptians whose population crossed the threshold of 100 million because of the limited rainfall on the northern coast of the country during the short winter season. Therefore, any new communities should be created close to the Nile Valley and Delta to ensure a steady water supply for both the urban and agricultural usage.
Even when the state considered extending branch from the River to Sinai Peninsula via siphon passes beneath the Suez Canal, this project could miss its target of cultivating around 500,000 acres of land and creating new urban and industrial communities in Sinai if the Nile supply of water drops for any reason whatsoever.
Nevertheless, the government works hard to create giant agricultural and urban communities on the northwestern coast depending on the rain season in winter. Yet, such projects would not still be enough to replace the expected loss of the fertile lands of the Delta on rising of the sea level given the fast population growth in this country. Therefore, creating more urban and agricultural communities in the southern and western part of the country is inevitable for the future of this nation. However, this could only be achieved through extending branches or pipelines from the Nile to these new communities given the limited groundwater reservoirs and aquifers in these deserted regions.
