Millions of people in Egypt are feeling the heat from global climate change

A leading cardiologist has called on the government and the private sector, the two leading employers in Egypt, to change business hours for millions of workers during the summer.

In making his demand, Dr Gamal Shaaban, the former head of the National Heart Institute, the epicentre of heart disease treatment in this country, cited rising heat and its dangerous effects on the health of the workers.

Dr Shaaban wants some of the nearly 5 million people working for the government and the approximately 12 million others employed by the private sector to attend to work every day for four hours, starting at 6 in the morning.

The other group of private sector and government employees, he said, can work after sunset, all to shield them from the dangers of rising temperatures.

"There is a noticeable rise in temperatures," Dr Shaaban said at a medical show he presents on a local channel.

Citing forecasts by the Egyptian Meteorological Authority that temperatures would keep rising in the coming period, he warned that exposure to extreme heat could cause deadly heart attacks.

Dr Shaaban's warning came as Egypt witnessed an unprecedented rise in temperatures at this time of the year, something that fuels a series of warnings by health authorities against the impact on public health.

Specialists say, however, that effects on public health are only the tip of the iceberg.

They view the same warnings and the symptoms behind them as less about a public health issue and more about an issue of national proportions, demonstrating the devastating effects climate change is having on this populous country.

Thirst and heat

Repeated warnings by health specialists and official institutions against the effects that warming weather conditions are having on public health demonstrate one fact: global warming has started posing a danger to the lives of ordinary people in this country.

Nevertheless, this is a symptom of a larger malaise, namely the profound implications of climate change on Egypt, ones that paint a grim picture for this country's future, especially if it fails to take appropriate adaptation measures, specialists say.

"Egypt is prone to major losses from climate change, being one of the countries hardest hit by the rising temperature of the Earth," Houssam Muharram, a former advisor to the Egyptian minister of the Environment, told The New Arab.

"Ordinary people are coming to realise that global warming is not make-believe, but something that has direct effects on their lives, including on their health," he added.

While Egypt contributes only 0.6 percent of the total annual global carbon dioxide emissions, it is one of the countries most affected by climate change.

The deep effects of climate change on this populous African country manifest in vital sectors of the Egyptian economy, especially agriculture, which contributes around 12 percent to the national GDP.

Extreme heat-induced crop loss is becoming increasingly common in Egypt, threatening the economic prospects of the country's farmers and ability to produce food for its people.

The same extreme heat is altering agricultural seasons, hindering land productivity and reducing crop yield.

The low-lying Nile Delta and Egypt's coastal zones also face the threat of being submerged underwater. At the same time, unconventional weather conditions put millions of people living in these areas in a bind.

The vast majority of Egypt's population resides in these areas, as well as along the Nile Valley. The bulk of its agricultural, industrial, and economic activities are concentrated in these areas, even though they constitute only 5.5 percent of Egypt's land area. The remaining space is nothing more than a barren desert.

Heavy rains and unstable weather conditions make life in Egypt's northern Mediterranean coast cities unstainable for many Egyptians.

Climate change also poses threats to Egypt's water supply, particularly since almost 95 percent of this country's water comes from outside its borders.

Travelling thousands of miles from its sources in the Horn of Africa and beyond, the water of the Nile River, Egypt's principal source of freshwater, is subject to extreme evaporation due to the rising heat.

The same rising heat increases water consumption among a growing population in a country whose water supply has remained constant over the decades, causing it to become increasingly water-scarce by the day.

Coping with climate change

Egypt has taken a series of countermeasures in its bid to minimise the effects of global warming on its economy and, consequently, the living conditions of its citizens.

These measures have so far included ones aimed at protecting the Mediterranean coast from erosion.

Egyptian agricultural authorities have also taken steps to overhaul irrigation systems to maximise benefits from every water unit, ones that are proving critical for a largely desert country where the population and water needs are growing, while water supply remains the same.

The same authorities have also embarked on a project to line and cover thousands of kilometres of irrigation canals, a costly procedure believed to be effective in minimising water seepage and enhancing water delivery efficiency.

The nation's agricultural research centres are also actively experimenting with a series of what are known as "climate smart crops", namely crops that are climate-resilient, which can also cope with water scarcity.

Some of these attempts have borne fruit, while others' effectiveness is still yet to be determined in rescuing the agricultural sector and the nation's food supply from the devastating effects of climate change.

"The adaptation measures taken by state institutions and the nation's research centres so far show that Egypt takes climate change seriously," environmentalist Mohamed al-Gabalawi, who is also the head of the Committee on the Environment in the Egyptian parliament, told TNA.

"Things could have become far worse without these measures, given the fact that global warming is having shocking effects on everything in our country," he added.

Nonetheless, some of the effects of global warming remain difficult to handle or adapt to, including those that directly affect ordinary people, even as individuals like Dr Shaaban, a leading cardiologist, continues to campaign to raise awareness about their dangers to public health.

He blamed the intensifying heat for a surge in heart attacks, something backed by scientific studies, especially for persons with pre-existing heart problems.

Calling the months of summer, a heat-filled stretch that theoretically starts in June and ends in August, as the "heart attack season", Dr Shaaban expressed hope that Egyptian authorities would copy the model of some Arab Gulf states where work shifts are tailored to protect workers against the dangerous effects of heat waves.