As Egypt celebrates the 50th anniversary of the start of the construction of the Aswan High Dam, some scientists say that this wonder of engineering is contributing to an environmental catastrophe that could force millions of its citizens to abandon the lush, fertile delta. The worst of these is coastal erosion and subsidence, the compacting of the delta soil.

Global sea level and Earth

Tuna boats in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean will be alowed to catch a total of 13,500 tonnes of bluefin tuna next year, down from the provisional quota of 19,950 tonnes.

health Side-effects stay Chemicals called contrast agents used during cardiac angiography can seriously damage kidneys which, in turn, increases chances of heart attacks. Side-effects were earlier thought to be temporary. A team tracked 294 patients exposed to contrast agents for a year. 31 per cent of the patients were found to suffer from long-term negative

Common dolphins, once a frequent sight in the Mediterranean, may soon be extinct in Greece's Ionian Sea due to overfishing, environmentalists warned on Wednesday.

WWF and a dozen other environmental organisations said research showed numbers of dark-grey, white-bellied dolphins had decreased from 150 to 15 in 10 years in protected areas in the Ionian, between Greece and Italy.

To replenish it, Dead Sea basin countries

Human activity is drying up the briny lake LIVING waters will go from Jerusalem

Hazards of the proposed canal The proposed canal, dubbed Two Seas Canal, will pump water from the Red Sea to a height of 230 m above sea level, transport it along the Araba valley and then run down into the Dead Sea. The downhill flow will be harnessed to generate 550 MW of electricity. Green groups say mixing waters from seas with drastically different chemical composition could cause the

Marine litter is a global concern affecting all the oceans of the world. It poses environmental, economic, health and aesthetic problems that are rooted in poor solid waste management practices, lack of infrastructure, indiscriminate human activities and behaviours and an inadequate understanding on the part of the public of the potential consequences of their actions.

acidic oceans: Dissolved CO2 makes water more acidic. UK researchers saw a fall in the species numbers and snails with their shells disintegrating in vents in the Mediterranean sea. They say impacts such as changing of marine food web and decrease in biodiversity might become common with the increase of CO2 levels. Some of the extra CO2 emitted enters the oceans, acidifying waters globally.

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