Rising seas threaten billions of dollars in Egyptian ecosystems
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Daily News Egypt
Illustrative image · Eslam Mohammed Abdelmaksoud · Pexels · Licence PexelsRising sea levels could wipe out hundreds of billions of dollars in ecosystem services each year by the end of the century, according to a study published in PNAS Nexus. Egypt is among the countries exposed to significant economic losses linked to coastal flooding, according to the study.
A study published on 3 November in PNAS Nexus estimates that rising sea levels could lead to the loss of hundreds of billions of dollars in ecosystem services each year by the end of the century. Researchers estimate global annual losses at around 130 billion international dollars, in 2020 value, in one of the scenarios studied for 2100, according to Daily News Egypt.
The team led by Shaoqing Long, an associate professor of environmental economics and sustainability at Sun Yat-sen University in China, combined projections of rising sea levels from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) with global land-use maps and data on the economic value of services provided by forests, agricultural land, wetlands and grasslands. Five pathways ranging from steep emissions reductions to a high-emissions scenario were studied between 2030 and 2100.
The researchers also compared historical cumulative greenhouse gas emissions per capita between 1850 and 2024 with projected losses of ecosystem services per capita. They concluded that some countries that have historically contributed relatively little to global emissions could suffer disproportionate losses relative to the value of their natural resources, according to Daily News Egypt.
