Ancient Alexandria is at risk from rising seas and coastal erosion, with building collapses surging at an alarming rate. The ancient Egyptian metropolis, established over two thousand years ago by Alexander the Great, is experiencing an alarming increase in structural failures. Once uncommon, collapses have surged from one per year to about 40 per year over the last decade. According to a study released this month by the University of Southern California (USC), this increase is caused by coastal erosion and rising sea levels, which erode building foundations.

With a population of 6 million, Alexandria is one of the cities most at risk from sea-level rise. The city’s modern and historic buildings are currently rapidly being eroded by the accelerated impact of human-caused climate change, even though its structures have withstood natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis.

Sara Fouad, a landscape architect at the Technical University of Munich and the study’s principal author, said, “Decades of damage are undoing what took millennia of human ingenuity to build.”

Seawater Intrusion Weakens Foundations

Researchers employed soil isotope studies, historical maps, and satellite images to examine shoreline alterations and their effects. They looked at how Alexandria’s coastline has changed since 1887, demonstrating how it has moved inland by many feet over the last 20 years, raising groundwater levels.

Isotope tests showed that seawater intrusion is degrading buildings from the bottom up, reducing soil stability and triggering structural failures, according to Ibrahim H. Saleh, a soil radiation specialist at Alexandria University. Even a slight sea-level rise of just a few centimeters has had devastating consequences.

According to the report, 7,000 of Alexandria’s historic structures are at risk of collapse. A 13-story structure collapsed in the Sidi Bishr district in June 2023, and other districts have experienced fatal accidents in prior years. Experts caution that these collapses may have been caused by advancing groundwater damage.

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Proposed Solutions and Global Implications

Researchers recommend placing vegetation barriers and dunes along Alexandria’s coastline to prevent additional harm. Co-author Steffen Nijhuis of the Delft University of Technology stressed that coastal communities worldwide could use this economical and sustainable approach.

The crisis in Alexandria reflects a larger worldwide problem. Ancient Alexandria at risk from rising seas and coastal erosion highlights a broader global crisis—climate change is already accelerating coastal erosion and infrastructure failures in several Mediterranean cities and regions, such as California.

USC water scientist Essam Heggy cautioned against the fallacy that a substantial sea-level rise is still far off. “Coastlines are already changing, and building collapses are occurring at an unprecedented rate,” he said.

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