Neighborhoods at Risk of Drowning in Alexandria in Light of Climate Change, Coastal Threat Sources and Means of Protection

Recently, statements were issued by some western officials and press articles stating that the city of Alexandria is facing a new existential threat resulting from climate change, and that it will be drowned due to climate change. In this article, I would like to clarify that the risks arising from sea level rise do not threaten the ancient city of Alexandria, which extends from Abu Qir in the northeast to Burg Al Arab in the southwest, as it is built at altitudes of 5 meters up to 25 meters above sea level. Rather, the threat is limited to the urban expansions that were added to the south of the city at the expense of Lake Mariout on the one hand, and at the expense of the low agricultural lands south of the suburbs of Abu Qir, Maamoura, Montazah and Sidi Bishr al Qibli on the other hand. The main sources of the coastal threat to these areas are the Abu Qir Bay in the north and the Max Bay in the west. These expansions can be protected from the invasion of the sea if the political will and economic capabilities are available, by making submerged armored concrete walls with the specifications mentioned in this article along the Abu Qir Bay and on the areas of the current gaps in the Max Bay.It should also be noted that the original highlands of Alexandria are interspersed with some few depressions that are not directly connected to surface water sources, but are threatened by total or partial inundation in the event of a rise in the subsurface water level as a sequential effect of sea level rise. The most important of these are the Smouha, Al Seyouf and Sporting depressions with a total area of about 2.5 km² as well as some depressions below sea level at the center of Abu Qir suburb with a total area of 1.0 km². Khaled Abdel-Kader Ouda "Neighborhoods at Risk of Drowning in Alexandria in Light of Climate Change, Coastal Threat Sources and Means of Protection" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-6 | Issue-5 , August 2022, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd50484.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/other-scientific-research-area/geology/50484/neighborhoods-at-risk-of-drowning-in-alexandria-in-light-of-climate-change-coastal-threat-sources-and-means-of-protection/khaled-abdelkader-ouda