tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8003335.post646395681802361384..comments2024-03-23T00:46:27.084+02:00Comments on Egyptian Chronicles: Save the Coral Reefs of Tiran and Sanafir IslandsZeinobiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12290387395565291310noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8003335.post-19213897035073847582013-01-12T01:38:34.277+02:002013-01-12T01:38:34.277+02:00There is no reality in these facts, if you are int...There is no reality in these facts, if you are interesting to protect eco-system then you should ask Israel and Jordan to stop crossing ferries and ships over Red Sea. and if you are more eco-system lover launch a campaign to stop all industrialization in the country. So please avoid estimating such things from which you are not known. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8003335.post-38691358050976278252012-08-15T17:58:42.673+02:002012-08-15T17:58:42.673+02:00Today, more than a year since that law was passed,...Today, more than a year since that law was passed, go to any supermarket on Egypt's Red Sea coast and your purchases will be thrown into a plastic bag. Those bags are then scattered in the desert and make their way into the water, leaving sea life threatened. People, despite knowing that their actions have a great impact on their surroundings, continue to avoid solutions.<br />Yahia Shawkat, writing in Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper, attempted to argue that Egyptians are "environmentally conscious people" – adding, of course, "in our own way". That's just the problem, as wealthy and elite Egyptians and Arabs such as Shawkat continue to paint a rosy picture of environmentalism in the country and around the region, the facts on the ground are more stark and depressing. Take a look at the coral, or at least what is left.<br />What is needed, one environmental consultant at a major supermarket chain in Egypt told me recently, was a change of mindset. "We live in a time where information goes so quickly and we sometimes get inundated with too much too quickly, but in terms of what we are doing, and buying from the local supermarket, we have to be more conscious of how this changes the environment."<br />He said Egyptians and Arabs who head to the Red Sea need to make "environmental strong decisions of how they are going to spend their money and time". If we want to see dolphins in the Red Sea in the immediate future, we must be more aware of the products we use, where we stay and what actions we support. Or face the consequences.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8003335.post-2770947573138247112012-08-15T17:58:30.822+02:002012-08-15T17:58:30.822+02:00This was published by the Guardian News paper
The ...This was published by the Guardian News paper<br />The Red Sea is facing a crisis that could see much of its wonderful marine life cease to exist. Continued polluting of the water, constant oil spillage from offshore rigs and a lack of awareness in Egypt and around the region about the importance of maintaining vital ecosystems all contribute to the threat.<br />A few travellers passing through Cairo earlier this month sent me an email describing their disappointment at the diving they experienced off Egypt's top resort, Sharm el-Sheikh. What they saw was "completely a different scene" from their first visit in 2004. "The coral was turning grey and dying," they said.<br />Over and over I have heard stories from divers about the decaying state of the Red Sea's coral reefs. It is unfortunate, but true. No longer is the Red Sea a pristine location to witness the spectacle of marine life and coral reefs. One of the main causes is the constant pouring of waste from hotels along the coastal areas, but the tourism industry more generally has done further harm by pumping chemicals and other waste products into the sea. Resolving these problems is proving extremely difficult.<br />Not only are coral reefs under threat, but other marine life, too. Offshore oil rigs have been in the Red Sea waters for decades, but little has been done to ensure the equipment is up to date. These rigs stream a constant pool of oil into the sea. Ahmed el-Droubi of the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Agency (Hepca) told me earlier this year that much of the dolphin population has migrated further and further south as a result.<br />There are areas that are uninhabitable as a result of oil spillage, he said. Hepca has warned about the oil continually seeping into areas along the coast, including beaches, which have seen massive degradation in recent years. A major oil spill last summer showed the ugly face of offshore drilling – not only in the Gulf of Mexico – but here in the Red Sea.<br />The oil spread far and wide, according to reports, and even as the government claimed it had been contained, beaches continued to be flooded with it. Even today, the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) told me that a number of the beaches are still "unsafe for tourism".<br />The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has warned of what is happening to the Red Sea:<br />"The major threats to the marine environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are related to land-based activities. These include urbanisation and coastal development (for example, dredge and fill operations), industries including power and desalination plants and refineries, recreation and tourism, waste water treatment facilities, power plants, coastal mining and quarrying activities, oil bunkering and habitat modification such as the filling and conversion of wetlands." <br />With tourism one of the top foreign currency providers in Egypt, the resultant loss of coral reef quality and marine life has left Egypt in a bind.<br />There are good people working hard to clean up the ecosystems across the region, including the Red Sea. Hepca and Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) are two of these organisations, but they come up against one major problem in their work: a lack of overall environmental consciousness.<br />Take the efforts to rid the Red Sea of plastic bags – a major culprit in the pollution of the water and marine life and biodiversity degradation in the Red Sea. Hepca launched a campaign last year, garnering the support of local Egyptian government in the area to ban the use of plastic bags at supermarkets.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8003335.post-17081103061977797102012-07-12T23:55:41.493+02:002012-07-12T23:55:41.493+02:00Planes & satellite dishes? That's not what...Planes & satellite dishes? That's not what they used to quell the demonstrations in Bahrain. I think it was called "a bridge."vagabondbloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15335179461403449587noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8003335.post-12165222018908943762012-07-12T22:39:37.930+02:002012-07-12T22:39:37.930+02:00Tectonic movements are fairly slow, they are sever...Tectonic movements are fairly slow, they are several millimeters per year. The Atlantic for example widens at about 30 mm per year. The following paper estimates the movement to be 4 mm per year (look at the discussion at the end):<br /><br />http://www.ipgp.fr/~klinger/page_web/biblio/publication/slip-rate.pdf<br /><br />This means that after hundred years the movement will be of the order of one meter. It should be possible to construct a bridge that can tolerate this amount of displacement during its lifetime. The thermal expansion is similarly big: For a 1000m long concrete bridge and a temperature change of 40°C it is about 0.5m. <br /><br />The thermal expansion coefficient was taken from here:<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_expansion#Thermal_expansion_coefficients_for_various_materials<br /><br /><br />Eike.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8003335.post-464004859698107582012-07-12T21:56:52.703+02:002012-07-12T21:56:52.703+02:00I can't believe how sick I feel after hearing ...I can't believe how sick I feel after hearing of this proposed bridge.<br /><br />Egypt - don't do this!!!<br /><br />please, you'll be killing the environment, the underwater sea life, scuba diving/snorkeling industry, and really setting your self and Sharm el-Sheikh back in terms of tourism.<br /><br />please don't do this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8003335.post-4602757309086931282012-07-12T21:47:00.095+02:002012-07-12T21:47:00.095+02:00Zeinobia,
I just noticed this post is from last M...Zeinobia,<br /><br />I just noticed this post is from last March. I think you should update it with the latest information and reset the date so people will see this on the front page of your site when they go there.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8003335.post-25774725954731862092012-07-12T21:45:27.349+02:002012-07-12T21:45:27.349+02:00This is the first time I have heard about this pos...This is the first time I have heard about this possible bridge project and frankly it is the most disgusting idea ever imagined.<br /><br />A. Tiran is a protected area. no bridge should be built on it.<br />B. The ocean beneath the bridge area is a natural protected reserve. No pillons or bridge structure should be submerged to help in the construction of a bridge.<br />C. Most importantly, the living species in the are of the proposed bridge structure generates millions of dollars in tourism each year.<br /><br />There is no need for a bridge as there is an international airport in Sharm. And the addition of bridge structure would reduce the marine life and the tourism industry in the area.<br /><br />Great way to destroy your natural avenues to generate tourism dollars Egypt.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8003335.post-75804487389994020012012-03-08T09:31:53.905+02:002012-03-08T09:31:53.905+02:00Since some years every year the same silly subject...Since some years every year the same silly subject! Facts are:<br />1. The northwest area of Saudia Arabia ist mostly uninhabited mountain desert, there is definitely no need for car and truck traffic starting from Sharm el Sheik. Therefore there are also no ferries from Sharm el Sheik to close area of Saudi Arabia, and not existing ferries can not sink.<br />2. From northwest of Saudi Arabia to Mekka (--> hadsch) and to Riad is a very long way over land, of course without any strong public request.<br />3. The ferry accidents have been on routes from Jeddah to Safaga, this is the main route. A bridge crossing Tiran strait will not avoid any further accident.<br />4. Routing of the bridge is in a tectonic very active zone, Sinai and Saudi Arabia leave each other by 3 cm/year. How to contract a bridge that exists for 20 years?<br />5. Spanning strait of Tiran needs a bridge minimum 40 m free passage for commercial ships. This needs either three pylons in Sharm el Sheik, at one of the Tiran reefs and at Tiran islands with minimum height 120 m, or by avoiding the middle two pylons of about 700 m (worldwide never built before).<br />6. Increasing Saudi tourism is a fairy tale. This country is rejecting almost each trial for tourism activities.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8003335.post-30206017313084953832012-03-05T00:54:30.696+02:002012-03-05T00:54:30.696+02:00Zenobia,
I'm very interested to know more abo...Zenobia,<br /><br />I'm very interested to know more about this issue and what specific environmental damage the bridge would induce and if there will be an environmental impact assessment board involved if the bridge is to take place. I will do my research, but could you share with me what sources you already have? Thank you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8003335.post-52816782517601117062012-03-04T21:28:48.402+02:002012-03-04T21:28:48.402+02:00Sir, I think you're mistaken..
At least Saudis...Sir, I think you're mistaken..<br />At least Saudis are not waiting for the bridge. They already here by planes and satellite dishes and recorded sermons.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8003335.post-45000373144733112622012-03-04T20:58:16.068+02:002012-03-04T20:58:16.068+02:00Dear Zenobia; the idea of the bridge has been has ...Dear Zenobia; the idea of the bridge has been has been flaunted and discussed as propaganda for several years now, a few basic facts need to be highlighted before we get bogged down in a propagnda whirlpool ourselves... the gulf of Aqaba is formed naturally as an extension to the African rift valley, a land depression in the continent of africa that extends from its central parts, to beyond its continental shelf into asia,the valley cuts through from the middle of africa, through te red sea north forming the gulf of aqaba and later the Dead sea(sea of galleli)in israel, interesting fact about the rift valley is that for thousands of years it has opened up(expanded) at an regular annual rate of expansion, thus allowing for the formation of the gulf n other low-lying land features as mentioned above, more interestingly, the rate of expansion continues and will keep on increasing at its usual annual rate till the end of the life of this planet....now back to the bridge, it is a physical impossibility to construct such a marvel of creation and keeping it from breaking up as the gulf slowly expands, moreover, assuming that the engineering technology exists for bridges n roads in cases of temperature related expansions, the expansion joints fitted on those structures are of a calculated dimension n based on ambient temprature n material used expansion coefficients,but most importantly they are retractable joints in other words they expand to allow for variances, then retract when conditions change again.... to date no technology exists for expansion joints that move lineary in one direction till the end of time as is the case with the proposed fantasy bridge.... do your research, the bridge is a plain work of fiction, even with our most uptodate engineering knowledge..... p.s seems people do not understand how our planet is formed n how it works, the magic word is , African Rift Valley..... i hope this calrifies the issue for you and that now you can direct your energy towards more realistic and fulfilling goals.... best regards,Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8003335.post-15499373148782332122012-03-04T19:32:54.554+02:002012-03-04T19:32:54.554+02:00The bridge wont affect the ecosystem as much as th...The bridge wont affect the ecosystem as much as the ferries who drag up the water and all the pollution aspects. The bridge will be Saudi Arabias latest weapon in getting it's Wahabi AQ operatives easily and quickly onto the Egyptian landmass! There is no stopping the wahabi fruitcakes from spreading their doctrine into the villages of Egypt now. If you think the Salafist bandwagon is big now just wait a few years after this bridge and wait and see the Saudi terrorists making good use of it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8003335.post-7474970586034622482012-03-04T13:20:21.228+02:002012-03-04T13:20:21.228+02:00Bonjour,
C'est une vraie tristesse de penser ...Bonjour,<br /><br />C'est une vraie tristesse de penser que des piles de ponts vont être posées au milieu de la réserve de Ras el Mohamed...<br /><br />ColetteAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com