Food & Climate
The crisis of the Renaissance Dam between Egypt and Ethiopia is due to the inability to agree on each country’s water shares during times of drought, not the dam itself, as Sudan has dams, and they have never been a problem for Cairo, according to Egyptian-American space scientist Dr. Essam Heggy, who works in NASA.
“NASA Apps Group” hosted Heggy in a virtual meeting on Saturday, September 7, 2024, to talk about “How space science contributes to our daily lives, and how it provides solutions for the Earth and the environment”, and “Food & Climate” platform attended.
Heggy explained the climate change crisis; and how it prompted space agencies to direct a large part of their activity to studying these changes since 2004. For example, NASA directs 30-45% of its funding to studying climate change.
He said: “Ethiopia, which launched the Renaissance Dam, is the source country, and the water shares that countries receive during drought or low rainfall, which is due to climate change, have not been determined”.
Renaissance Dam crisis
Heggy mocked those who belittle the climate change crisis and science in general in our “happy” region, as he described it, and said: “Then we return to a point that many in our region still consider a joke, I mean the climate change joke.”
He continued: “The solution to the Renaissance Dam crisis lies in the establishment of joint study centers in Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, which study climate change in the Nile Basin, determine the amount of water, so we can divide it after that. If there is an inheritance whose size we do not know, how will we divide it among the heirs? That disputes will arise over this inheritance.”
Heggy believes that the water crisis does not happen by chance like climate crisis that only occur as a result of long-term neglect of climate change indicators, such as rise in summer temperatures, or a hurricane hitting an area exceptionally and -also- not taking action regarding it as if it is a natural occurrence, or even a flood that we ignore.
He said: “Neglecting climate change signals prevents the existence of a monitoring system, so we established a project to understand climate change, and I am responsible for it at NASA, and we monitor climate changes in desert areas through a group of satellites, which are of two types: glacial and sandy.”
Neglecting climate change signals was the reason for the death of 11.3 thousand Libyans in exceptional floods last year (September 9, 2023).
“Isn’t it strange that the largest drowning incident in Africa was in the Libyan desert, and not in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?”
Heggy added: “There was a warning about Hurricane Daniel, which caused the flooding in Derna, and no one responded. Even if they received warning, twice that number would have drowned, because they would have fled to the roads and drowned in them, due to the lack of preparation, and taking what science says. hurricane Daniel struck Greece and there were no losses compared to Libya”.
The space scientist continued to explain his vision of the importance of science, saying: “There is a difference between science and logic. Science is based on realistic monitoring of events, but logic is related to each person’s ideas and the extent of their culture. The researcher and scientist have a role. When we conduct research on water shortage, floods, and natural hazards, and do not inform people of their results, what happened in Libya will repeat. The media has a role, that we need to make space for people to know the results of our researches instead of making large spaces for ignorance in the media.
He continued: “What I mean is that if there is no scientific culture to deal with water and energy issues, for example, we will not have a plan to deal with this.”
The Egyptian scientist praised the role of the Egyptian Space Agency, saying: This is a real project, and its importance lies in studying Egypt’s resources. It also has a major role in preserving people’s lives and protecting food security. He noted the need to study everything that affects food security at home or abroad.
For example, there is a need to study the impact of climate change on a country like Ukraine, because we import large quantities of wheat from it.
He said: “many years ago, the price of bread in Egypt rose due to wheat field fires in Russia. Fires occur due to climate change, so the citizen must know that climate change is the reason for the increase in the price of the loaf of bread he buys at some point.”
Studying solar system
Heggy explained the importance of studying the planets of the solar system, saying: Understanding the changes that occurred in those planets helps in discovering what is happening on Earth.
Each planet in the group, and discovering the changes that occurred in it, represents a point of light that helps in understanding the changes that are occurring on Earth.
The moons surrounding Saturn and Jupiter, which are completely covered in ice, represent the ice era that planet Earth went through. Saturn and Jupiter could represent the primitive stage of planet Earth, when it was a gas cloud.
He said: “So all of these things represent tools to understand planet Earth. It also means that understanding them is not for the purpose of cultivating Mars, or setting up camps on it, or invading it, but the goal is Earth.”
He continued: “Someone told me that NASA is space, but you work on Earth and study the desert and the Nile River. I replied that severe climate changes were the reason for the shift towards studying them.”
He added: “We know that climate change in the North and South Poles leads to rising temperatures, melting snow and rising ocean waters, but climate changes in the desert, which some believe do not exist, is exist, such as floods. Also, areas without rain have become rainy, groundwater has changed and the desert area has increased, all of these are phenomena that reflect climate changes that we do not know all about in the desert”.
“If we understand these changes in the deserts, we can understand them on the planets of the solar system, and thus the future of the deserts, which enables us to understand an area that represents 11% of Earth.”