A new year's eve frost is expected to hit Egypt, with temperatures reaching only 18C during the day, according to the Egyptian Meteorological Authority (EMA). EMA President Mahmoud Issa told Al-Masry Al-Youm temperatures on Sunday will reach 25C, but will later decrease on Wednesday to 19C. Thursday, 30 December, and Friday the 31st, will see stormy weather and a decline in temperatures, along with strong winds--limited to Sinai and Red Sea areas--and heavy rainfall, according to Issa. Samer al-Mofty, an environmental expert, attributed the predicted frost to emissions produced by the eruption of a volcano in Iceland last year. Al-Mofty said the carbon dioxide emitted by the volcano created a reflective thick cloud which prevented sun rays from reaching the earth, rendering its surface colder. "I foresaw this months ago," al-Mofty said. "I realized that Europe would experience frosty weather, and that Egypt will not be protected,"adding that the rise in temperatures leads ice to melt, which results in ocean waters' salinity loss. The melting, according to al-Mofty, deprives Western Europe from the warmth provided by the water current arriving from the Gulf, threatening the region with a potential new ice age. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
