Since the beginning of time, and since God gave humankind the Earth to live on alongside the rest of His creatures, humankind has been a destroyer of all the beauty around. The pollution humans cause to the environment inevitably destroys unutterably, and this destruction negatively affects humans' lives and the lives of animals and plants that share life on Earth with them. In the following lines, we reveal how humans are their own worst enemy and the adversary of all other lifeforms on the planet. In this mind-opening interview, Dr. Emad Khalil shares with us valuable information on the issues of pollution and global warming, and the challenges facing the environment and marine life in particular as a result of this global crisis.
Dr. Emad Khalil is a Professor at the Department of Archaeology and Graeco-Roman Studies at the Faculty of Arts, Alexandria University; he is also the Director of the Alexandria Center for Maritime Archaeology and Underwater Cultural Heritage at Alexandria University, in addition to being a Professor of the UNESCO Chair for Underwater Cultural Heritage. Moreover, he was elected deputy of the UNESCO Scientific and Technical Committee for the 2001 Convention for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage. Dr. Emad was one of the first Egyptians to be trained in scuba diving and has worked in the field of discovering sunken antiquities in Egypt since the early 1990s.
Over the past years, humans have changed the shape of the Alexandrian coastline devastatingly, whether by increasing the beach or building facilities very close to the coast. Those facilities are annually flooded with water during severe storms the city is exposed to. Aside from depriving the Alexandrians of seeing the sea, a scenery they used to enjoy since ancient times, the facilities near the shore and the beach-filling work increase the sea currents in the area, which causes erosion and sedimentation along the coastline. This assists in the vulnerability of more extensive parts of the coast to sink in case the city is hit by tidal waves (tsunamis).
According to studies and research conducted over the past years, it is expected that several coastal cities in the Mediterranean, including Alexandria, will be exposed to severe tidal waves (tsunamis), which usually occur after earthquakes, but their strength and effects cannot be predicted. Undoubtedly, all the facilities located near the shore are subject to sinking. When the notorious tsunami that hit Alexandria during the fourteenth century occurred, large parts of Alexandria sank, and many buildings were destroyed, including the famous Lighthouse of Alexandria.
During the past two thousand years, the seafloor has dropped 6 meters due to the earthquakes that Alexandria has been exposed to; in return, the sea level has risen by 2 meters as a result of global warming and the melting of ice.
Back to the statements about the sinking of the city, no one can assert that this will happen in 30 years, or less or more. However, given the current situation and the current practices, the situation is serious; all concerned parties must be prepared to face this catastrophe, which seems inevitable, whether after 30 years or more.
When the tsunami occurs, will today's Alexandria sink like the ancient Alexandria did?
Of course not; the city of Alexandria is built on top of a limestone hill; therefore, if the coasts are hit by tidal waves resulting from earthquakes, only the facilities near the coast will be affected. Moreover, earthquakes are often accompanied by land subsidence, which can result in the sinking of some parts of the coast. Returning to the tsunami that struck ancient Alexandria in the fourteenth century, it was caused by a strong earthquake that occurred in the Mediterranean Sea. It resulted in a crack in the seafloor, which in turn led to movement in the Earth’s crust and pushed a layer of seawater upwards, forming a giant tsunami moving towards the coasts, inundating everything in its path. At that time, the city facilities were mainly built near the coast, which led to the sinking of large parts of the ancient Alexandria coast.
On the other hand, global warming is currently causing an increase in the gradual rise in the sea level rates, which is also considered a threat to the coasts leading to their drowning, especially the lower ones. The most vulnerable region to drowning is the North Delta region, for example.
Despite the various devices and equipment that predict the occurrence of natural disasters, it is impossible to predict from now the exact location of their occurrence during the upcoming years. Nevertheless, it is necessary to mobilize the efforts of all stakeholders now to reduce global warming and the melting of ice in all possible ways to protect these areas and preserve the lives of future generations.
Talking about global warming and its effects, how has the behavior of marine organisms been affected by this phenomenon?
All marine organisms lived in a stable environment for millions of years before humans existed on Earth. Any change in the marine environment disrupts the marine ecosystem. For example, a half-degree rise in the water temperature exposes coral reefs to bleaching, leading to their death. In addition, any change in water temperature in general, whether high or low temperatures, drive marine organisms to migrate from their environment to new places that are more suitable for them, and some fish that do not tolerate these changes die.
For example, most sharks live in warm tropical waters and do not live in cold waters, but with global warming and the rise in temperature everywhere, most water bodies have become warm, which allowed sharks to move in areas they did not approach before freely. This example applies to all marine organisms that used to live only in warm waters. The lionfish is another example. It used to live in the Red Sea and is not found in the Mediterranean Sea at all, but now, unfortunately, it is epidemically spreading in the Mediterranean Sea. This fish feeds on fish fry in the Mediterranean Sea, and there are international calls to hunt it when found in the Mediterranean Sea because it has become a threat to its ecosystem. The third example is the starfish that have invaded the beaches in an epidemiological manner; because they feed on coral reefs and snails, they represent a significant threat to marine organisms in the Red Sea.
Awareness is the critical word in this dilemma; no problem can be solved without spreading awareness about its severity. It is necessary to enact laws and penalties to combat the pollution of water bodies; it is also necessary to find alternatives to the use of plastic, and most importantly, to spread awareness among people through all available channels to inform people about the problem, its dangers, and dire consequences. We should not rely on the governmental institutions' efforts alone. Every citizen from their position should contribute to spreading awareness and try to change the wrong behaviors and habits that harm not only those who do them but also the entire world, in addition to threatening the future of our children, which we aim to secure.
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