Soils as Driver and Victim of Climate
Change in Egypt
Reda Ragab Shahin
Abstract Egypt is a country that foresees to face severe effects owing to climate
change. Soil may consider an important source of greenhouse gas emissions (i.e.
carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxides). The drivers of soil GHG emissions are
soil type and composition (i.e. soil texture, pH, soil organic matter (SOM), etc.), soil
temperature, moisture, fertilization, soil miss-management (Tillage), rice cultivation
and burning of Crop residues. Soil also considered as a victim of climate change.
Global warming may induce, depletion of soil organic matter that causes the decline
of soil fertility, poor soil water regime, shifting of soil microbiome and soil compaction (i.e. Increase soil compaction, surface sealing and crust formation). Global
warming induces also sea level rise (SLR) on soils of Egypt which increase the area
of submerged lands in northern Nile Delta and consequently soil salinization. With
climate change, more frequent extreme precipitation and drought events are projected which may exacerbate the rate and soil susceptibility to accelerated erosion,
salinization and other degradation processes, leading to further carbon losses. In
conclusion, this chapter summarizes geographical nature of climate change impacts
and the history of flooding rainstorms in Egypt.
Keywords Global warming · Soil GHG emissions · Soil miss-management · SOM
depletion · Submerged lands · Nile delta · Rainstorms in Egypt
1 Introduction
Climate change and consequently global warming are of great concern for humanity
in the present, near and far future. Enormous amounts of greenhouse gases (GHG)
emitted every day and accumulating in the troposphere. The world temperature
recorded warmest July 2016 at +0.88 °C (+1.58 °F) changes in the temperature of
air relative to previous Century (1901–2000) global average [1]. This global heat and
warming are thought to be a directly correlated to the emissions of potential warming
gases into troposphere which estimated to reach 37 Bt CO 2 eq in 2014 which was
R. R. Shahin (B)
Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
e-mail: dredashahin@agr.cu.edu.eg; dredashahin@gmail.com
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
E.-S. E. Omran and A. M. Negm (eds.), Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture and Food
Security in Egypt, Springer Water, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41629-4_7
115
Change in Egypt
Reda Ragab Shahin
Abstract Egypt is a country that foresees to face severe effects owing to climate
change. Soil may consider an important source of greenhouse gas emissions (i.e.
carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxides). The drivers of soil GHG emissions are
soil type and composition (i.e. soil texture, pH, soil organic matter (SOM), etc.), soil
temperature, moisture, fertilization, soil miss-management (Tillage), rice cultivation
and burning of Crop residues. Soil also considered as a victim of climate change.
Global warming may induce, depletion of soil organic matter that causes the decline
of soil fertility, poor soil water regime, shifting of soil microbiome and soil compaction (i.e. Increase soil compaction, surface sealing and crust formation). Global
warming induces also sea level rise (SLR) on soils of Egypt which increase the area
of submerged lands in northern Nile Delta and consequently soil salinization. With
climate change, more frequent extreme precipitation and drought events are projected which may exacerbate the rate and soil susceptibility to accelerated erosion,
salinization and other degradation processes, leading to further carbon losses. In
conclusion, this chapter summarizes geographical nature of climate change impacts
and the history of flooding rainstorms in Egypt.
Keywords Global warming · Soil GHG emissions · Soil miss-management · SOM
depletion · Submerged lands · Nile delta · Rainstorms in Egypt
1 Introduction
Climate change and consequently global warming are of great concern for humanity
in the present, near and far future. Enormous amounts of greenhouse gases (GHG)
emitted every day and accumulating in the troposphere. The world temperature
recorded warmest July 2016 at +0.88 °C (+1.58 °F) changes in the temperature of
air relative to previous Century (1901–2000) global average [1]. This global heat and
warming are thought to be a directly correlated to the emissions of potential warming
gases into troposphere which estimated to reach 37 Bt CO 2 eq in 2014 which was
R. R. Shahin (B)
Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
e-mail: dredashahin@agr.cu.edu.eg; dredashahin@gmail.com
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
E.-S. E. Omran and A. M. Negm (eds.), Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture and Food
Security in Egypt, Springer Water, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41629-4_7
115