The Environmental in Egypt
Impacts of the Environment
Egypt experiences hot, dry summers and mild winters due to its desert climate. Large desert plateau in Egypt is broken up by the Nile Valley and Delta.
- By 2022 and 2035, Egypt aims to generate 42% of its electricity from renewable sources, with photovoltaic (PV) accounting for 21.3 percent of that total, wind supplying 14%, hydropower 1.98 percent, wind providing 14%, and conventional energy sources accounting for 57.33 percent.
- As of 2017, there were 77.5 billion cubic meters of freshwater withdrawn annually, of which 5.4 billion were for industrial use, 10.75 billion were for municipal use, and 61.35 billion were for agricultural purposes.
- In 2020, forests cover 0% of the land. 3.6% of the land area was described as agricultural land in 2018, consisting of 2.8% of arable land, 0.8% of permanent crops, and 0% of permanent pasture. Urbanization is causing the loss of agricultural land.
The most notable natural resources include petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, manganese, limestone, gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead, rare earth elements, and zinc.
- According to the World Bank, everyone has access to energy (2020). Fossil fuels account for 88.7% of Egypt’s energy production, along with 1% solar, 2.5% wind, 7.7% hydroelectricity, and 0.2% biomass and waste.
Downsides of Environment in Egypt
- Desertification, the loss of agricultural land to urbanization and wind-blown sands, the salinization of the soil behind the Aswan High Dam, the threat of oil pollution to coral reefs, beaches, and marine habitats; additional water pollution brought on by industrial effluents, raw sewage, and pesticides used on farms; a dearth of freshwater sources other than the Nile, the only permanent water supply.
- Current environmental challenges include population growth that is outpacing natural resources and the Nile.
- Egypt’s CO2 emissions in 2020 were 2.09 metric tons per person, ranking ninth in Africa and above the region’s average of about 1 metric ton per person (2020). Egypt came in second overall in terms of CO2 emissions, with 213 million metric tons.
- Natural dangers include dust storms, sandstorms, hot, driving windstorms called khamsin that occur in spring, periodic droughts, frequent earthquakes, flash floods, and landslides.
- Egypt recorded 515,645 covid cases as of July 2022, with 95.2 million people having had at least one dose of the covid vaccination.
