Land Degradation, Desertification & Environmental Sensitivity to Climate Change in Alexandria and Beheira, Egypt. | ||||
| Egyptian Journal of Soil Science | ||||
| Article 11, Volume 64, Issue 1, March 2024, Page 167-180 PDF (898.52 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Review papers | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/ejss.2023.237386.1664 | ||||
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| Authors | ||||
Mohamed El Sayed Aboukota1; Hoda Hassaballa2; Maha Elhini3; Shimaa Kamal Ganzour  4
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| 1Soil, Water and Environment Research Inst. (SWERI)-Agriculture Research Center (ARC). | ||||
| 2The British University in Egypt, Department of Economics | ||||
| 3The British University in Egypt, Department of Economics. | ||||
| 4Soils, Water and Environment Research Institute (SWERI), Agriculture Research Center (ARC), Cairo | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Land degradation is among the most critical forms of climate change that has socioeconomic repercussions world-wide, particularly in Egypt’s Nile Delta region. It is essential to inform of timely measurements of land degradation and evaluate his motives for the security of populations living on and near the Nile Delta. This paper calculates the Environmental Sensitivity Index using the MEDALUS-GEE (Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use in the Google Earth Engine) approach for two of Egypt’s most climate-affected governorates, Alexandria and Beheira, on the district level. Results show that most of the districts in Alexandria, are highly sensitive to climate change and are unsuitable for farming owing to their proximity to the Mediterranean Sea. The rise in the sea level, which is reflected in the groundwater, as well as the geological composition of the region, is raising the soil salinity. Also, the highest degree of land degradation and/or desertification was concentrated in the hinterland of the Beheira Governorate. Causes include high salinity of the soil and groundwater, which makes it difficult to undertake land reclamation and cultivation. Hence, the study suggests a crop suitability plan for the areas under study, particularly those that are highly impacted by land degradation and desertification. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Land degradation; desertification; MEDALUS-GEE; Nile Delta; crop suitability | ||||
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