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Alexandria Battles Crumbling Foundations as Climate Change Ravages Coastal City
23 Jul
Summary
- Alexandria's coastline has receded 3.5 meters per year over the last 20 years
- Building collapses in the city have increased from 1 per year to 40 per year in the last decade
- The government is trying to address the issue by building sea barriers and demolishing unsafe buildings
Alexandria, Egypt is grappling with a worsening crisis as climate change-driven coastal erosion and rising seas threaten the foundations of the ancient city. Over the past 20 years, Alexandria's coastline has receded by an average of 3.5 meters per year, with the warming waters of the Mediterranean Sea creeping closer and seeping into the sandy substrate beneath the buildings.
This relentless erosion has led to a dramatic increase in building collapses across the city. Where there was once an average of just 1 collapse per year a decade ago, that number has now skyrocketed to 40 per year. Residents like Eman Mabrouk have had to abandon their homes as the structures become unstable and start to tilt and crack.
The Egyptian government has acknowledged the problem and is taking action, building concrete sea barriers and replenishing beaches with truckloads of sand. Authorities have also marked 7,500 buildings for demolition, with plans to construct 55,000 new housing units. However, with Alexandria's population continuing to swell, reaching nearly 5.8 million in the last 25 years, the crisis shows no signs of abating.
As Essam Heggy, a water scientist who co-authored a study on the issue, warns, "This is why we see the buildings in Alexandria being eroded from the bottom up. For many people who see that climatic change is something that will happen in the future and we don't need to worry about it, it's actually happening right now, right here."
