Soaring Building Collapses in Southern Mediterranean Coasts: Hydroclimatic Drivers & Adaptive Landscape Mitigations

IF 7.3 1区 地球科学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Earths Future Pub Date : 2025-02-12 DOI:10.1029/2024EF004883
Sara S. Fouad, Essam Heggy, Oula Amrouni, Abderraouf Hzami, Steffen Nijhuis, Nesma Mohamed, Ibrahim H. Saleh, Seifeddine Jomaa, Yasser Elsheshtawy, Udo Weilacher
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Abstract

The low-lying, arid coastal regions of the Southern Mediterranean Basin, extending over 4,600 km, face daunting sea level rise and hydroclimatic changes due to shifting weather patterns. The impact of these factors on coastal urban buildings and infrastructure must be better understood. Alexandria, a historic and densely populated port city in Egypt representative of several coastal towns in the Southern Mediterranean, has experienced over 280 building collapses along its shorelines over the past two decades, and the root causes are still under investigation. We examine the decadal changes in coastal and hydroclimatic drivers along the city's coastline using photogrammetric satellite images from 1974 to 2021. We explore the interconnectivity between shoreline retreat, ground subsidence, and building collapses. Our results suggest that collapses are correlated with severe coastal erosion driven by sediment imbalances resulting from decades of inefficient landscape management and urban expansion along the city's waterfront. This severe erosion, combined with sea level rise, increases seawater intrusion, raising groundwater levels in coastal aquifers. Degrading ground stability and accelerating corrosion in building foundations ultimately culminating in collapses. We identified a coastal area of high vulnerability with over 7,000 buildings at risk, surpassing any other vulnerable zone in the Mediterranean Basin. We propose cost-effective and nature-based techniques for coastal landscape adaptation to alleviate these dangers in Alexandria and other Southern Mediterranean cities facing similar climatic challenges.

Abstract Image

南地中海沿岸高耸的建筑物倒塌:水文气候驱动因素和适应性景观缓解
南地中海盆地的低洼干旱沿海地区绵延4600多公里,由于气候模式的变化,面临着令人生畏的海平面上升和水文气候变化。必须更好地了解这些因素对沿海城市建筑和基础设施的影响。亚历山大港是埃及一个历史悠久、人口稠密的港口城市,是地中海南部几个沿海城镇的代表。在过去的20年里,亚历山大港的海岸线上发生了280多座建筑倒塌,其根本原因仍在调查中。我们利用1974年至2021年的摄影测量卫星图像,研究了城市海岸线沿岸和水文气候驱动因素的年代际变化。我们探讨了海岸线后退、地面沉降和建筑物倒塌之间的相互联系。我们的研究结果表明,崩塌与严重的海岸侵蚀有关,这种侵蚀是由数十年来低效的景观管理和城市沿滨水地区的城市扩张造成的沉积物不平衡所导致的。这种严重的侵蚀,加上海平面上升,增加了海水的入侵,提高了沿海含水层的地下水位。降低地面稳定性,加速建筑物基础的腐蚀,最终导致倒塌。我们确定了一个高度脆弱的沿海地区,有7000多座建筑物处于危险之中,超过了地中海盆地的任何其他脆弱地区。我们提出了具有成本效益和基于自然的沿海景观适应技术,以减轻亚历山大和其他面临类似气候挑战的南地中海城市的这些危险。
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来源期刊
Earths Future
Earths Future ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCESGEOSCIENCES, MULTIDI-GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY
CiteScore
11.00
自引率
7.30%
发文量
260
审稿时长
16 weeks
期刊介绍: Earth’s Future: A transdisciplinary open access journal, Earth’s Future focuses on the state of the Earth and the prediction of the planet’s future. By publishing peer-reviewed articles as well as editorials, essays, reviews, and commentaries, this journal will be the preeminent scholarly resource on the Anthropocene. It will also help assess the risks and opportunities associated with environmental changes and challenges.
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