Impact of urbanization and climate change on soil erosion in Semi-Arid Basins

Mahgoub, Mohamed , Elbelasy, Ahmed , Abdelmonem, Yehia , Soussa, Hoda , Elalfy, Ezzat

2025-07-05 THEORETICAL AND APPLIED CLIMATOLOGY 2025   156(卷), 7(期), (null页)

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Wadis in semi-arid areas are frequently exposed to the phenomenon of soil erosion due to the spread of barren lands, which increases the surface runoff. Urbanization, in combination with climate change with occasional high-intensity storms, increases the vulnerability of these regions to soil erosion. In this study, field survey data from Wadi Watir in South Sinai, Egypt, is integrated with GIS and satellite imagery to evaluate the applicability of the RUSLE model in semi-arid basins. The findings indicated a strong correlation between the field measurements and the RUSLE model. Specifically, the field data revealed sediment volumes of 159,800 m3 and 75,000 m3 upstream of the Al-Fujairah and Al-Shabiha dams, respectively, while the RUSLE model estimates were 145,300 m3 and 70,000 m3 with 9% and 6.7% variance. This study combines urbanization with climate change precipitation models, including CNRM-CERFACS, Ec-Earth-ICHEC, and GFDL-ESM2M, under optimistic and pessimistic RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios to assess their impacts on soil erosion amounts in a semi-arid basin in Madinaty city, Egypt. Both urbanization and climate change showed an increasing trend in soil erosion, particularly in the northern area due to its steep topography. Climate change influenced soil erosion more significantly than urbanization, with anticipated soil loss reaching 96 tons/ha, under extreme daily precipitation caused by climate change within the future period (2018 - 2050), while urbanization resulted in a predicted loss of 38 tons/ha. When both factors were combined, the predicted soil erosion surged to 124 tons/ha, surpassing the average soil rate of 34 tons/ha/year attributed to the combined effects of urbanization and climate change. This highlights the substantial influence of daily rainstorms on soil erosion. The present study urges decision-makers to increase the green areas and limit human activities that increase greenhouse gas emissions, to mitigate soil erosion rates.

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