CAIRO - There are growing worries that the Government is not doing enough to offset the possibly catastrophic impact of global warming. It has been criticised by Egyptian scientists for ignoring early signs of a dramatic climatic change as a result of global warming. These scientists say that, over the past few years, Egyptian summers have been getting longer and longer, describing cold weather here as something in the distant past. They are also worried that we'll start seeing more than just one or two heavy downpours and floods every year, warning that the entire Delta could disappear underwater, its inhabitants made homeless and life there devastated. The eminent Egyptian geologist, Farouq el-Baz, says that the immersion of the Delta could lead to the eruption of epidemics. El-Baz, who is the Director of the Space Researcher Centre in Boston University, adds that a national campaign should be immediately launched to do something about the threat, before it's too late. Addressing a seminar organised by Egypt's Desert Research Centre, el-Baz indicated that 2 million acres in the Delta's northern area have already been destroyed as a result of global warming. The seminar was also told that the Toshka agricultural project and the Al-Salam Canal project are being seriously threatened by the migration of sand dunes, one of the effects of climate change. El-Baz suggested that the nation should move development and agricultural projects away from the Delta, adding that trees should be planted around Toshka and Al-Salam Canal to safeguard the agricultural projects in these areas. The Ecological Research Centre (ERC) said in a recent report that about 3,500km of coastline on the Red Sea and the Mediterranean could disappear as the sea level rises. In its report, ERC predicted that the cities of Alexandria, Port Said, Ras el- Barr and Baltim will all be flooded, along with no less than 30 per cent of Lower Egypt, resulting in economic losses of around LE35 billion. Meanwhile, the Vice-Chairman of the Education Quality Authority, Professor of Agriculture Hisham Barqawi, has attacked governmental officials for not appreciating the extent of the threat. “The destruction of huge swathes of agricultural land will lead to largescale food shortages in the country,” warns Professor Barqawi of Cairo University. “Bacteria and bugs will flourish and the heavy use of pesticides will do even more damage to the Delta.” According to Professor Mohamed Eid of the Technological Marketing Department at the Agricultural Research Centre, that new agricultural technology will help Egypt survive the fallout of climate change. He urges the Ministry of Agriculture to start cultivating plants and crops, which can withstand the climatic changes, as well as resisting bugs and insects.
