The Nile Delta is the most vital region of the desert-dominated country of Egypt. Due to its prominent level of vulnerability to climate change’s negative impacts and its low capacity for adaptation and mitigation, the current study aims to provide accurate quantification of temperature change across the Nile Delta as an integral basis for sustainability and climate change impacts assessment studies. This was achieved through monitoring urban dynamics and detecting LST trends in 91 cities and their rural surroundings. The relevant local urban bias was discriminated from regional/background changes present in diurnal/nocturnal temperature records. The temperature records were then corrected/adjusted by removing this urban bias. Owing to the insufficiency of ground-based meteorological observatories, the investigation utilized moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperatures (LSTs) and Landsat-based datasets (2000–2021). The widely used Mann–Kendall test (MKT) and Theil–Sen estimator (TSE) were employed to assess trends in urban sprawl, LST time series, and the implied association. The analysis revealed that the region has experienced dramatic urbanization, where the total urban expansion was greater than two-thirds (69.1%) of the original urban area in 2000. This was accompanied by a notable warming trend in the day/night and urban/rural LST records. The nocturnal LST exhibited a warming tendency (0.072 °C year⁻¹) larger than the diurnal equivalent (0.065 °C year⁻¹). The urban dynamics were positively correlated with LST trends, whereas the Mediterranean Sea appeared as a significant anti-urbanization moderator, in addition to the Nile River and the prevailing northerly/northwesterly winds. The urban–rural comparison approach disclosed that the urbanization process caused a warming bias in the nighttime LST trend by 0.017 °C year⁻¹ (21.8%) and a cooling bias in the daytime by −0.002 °C year⁻¹ (4.4%). All results were statistically significant at a confidence level of 99%. It is recommended that studies of climate-related sustainability and climate change impact assessment in the Nile Delta should apply a distinction of urban-induced local effect when quantifying the actual regional temperature change.

The civilization and tangible cultural heritage of the Kharga Oasis has a historical precedence over that of the old Nile Valley civilization. Approximately 12,000 years ago, a significant prehistoric migration occurred from the Kharga Oasis to the Nile Valley. This event was motivated by climate change and the southward shift of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), which caused a shift in Egypt’s savannah forests from abundant vegetation to an extremely dry desert. The present study investigates the progressive deterioration of the tangible cultural and civilized legacy of the Kharga Oasis over the course of several millennia, positing that this phenomenon can be attributed to the area’s vulnerability to paleoclimatic fluctuations. The evaluation of the Kharga Oasis’ susceptibility to climate change was predicated on the scrutiny of petroglyphs that were unearthed at different sites within the Oasis. This analysis was reinforced by paleoclimate information and radiocarbon dating (C14). The utilization of an interdisciplinary approach yielded significant insights into the dynamic climate patterns and their effects on the Kharga Oasis across temporal scales. The results illustrated a noteworthy alteration in climate, which caused the conversion of the Oasis terrain from being heavily wooded to becoming arid, mainly due to extended periods of drought. The present research postulates a novel and alternate hypothesis concerning the archaeological chronology of human habitation in the Kharga Oasis from ancient eras, predicated on the analysis of pictorial depictions on rock surfaces. The findings of this study made a noteworthy contribution to the current corpus of knowledge regarding the vulnerability of the ancient Egyptian society to the impacts of climate variability. Moreover, the petroglyphs’ depictions provided a distinctive viewpoint on the climatic fluctuations that occurred in the Sahara and North Africa throughout the Holocene epoch, as well as the fundamental causative factors.

At three selected residential locations in Tabbin area, seasonal samples of airborne heavy metal concentrations were analyzed, and results interpreted. Heavy metals of mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), and arsenic (As) in particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of ten micrometer or less (PM10) were assessed. The work depended entirely on collecting in-situ 36 air samples, 12 per location during 2022–2023. The analysis of particulate matter and its heavy metal concentrations across separate locations revealed a complex environmental landscape. PM10 levels fluctuated significantly at Location 01, while Location 03 experienced sporadic spikes, indicating episodic pollution events. Arsenic was high at Location 01, contrasting with the low levels found at Location 02. Mercury’s noticeable rise at location 03 indicated that emissions from the cement industry nearby were caused by burning coal. Meanwhile, elevated Pb levels at Location 02 indicated such activities and production emissions of specific local sources, including traffic congestion, smelters, and foundries. PM10 variations did not show any significant mean difference across locations, but the disparities in heavy metal concentrations were pronounced. This conclusion underscores the need for adopting extensive source apportionment, environmental assessments and confrontation plans by the local governments and research institutions.

The COVID-19 pandemic disease affects us all and get the world into an enormous crisis. Temperature is an important factor in infectivity reduction of viral disease. The current study screens the probable association between the extreme temperature events and COVID-19 outbreak. The most recent heatwave that hit Egypt in May 2020 selected as a case study. We studied the daily progression and current situation of COVID-19 morbidity in Egypt. The concurrent heatwave was identified and synoptically explained in deep. Considering the incubation-induced lag time between heatwave intensities and COVID-19 confirmed cases, visual interpretation of line graphs discovered an interesting identical connection between the real-time thermal intensities and the 14-day retreated infected cases during the heatwave days. The 5-day heatwave with thermal intensities 6.1–7.8 °C led to a 5-day fall in COVID-19 morbidity. The thermal intensity peak of the heatwave caused the greatest decline in COVID-19 confirmed cases by about onethird. The 2nd order polynomial regression model for the relationship suggested that heatwave intensity of 5.5 °C is the critical thermal threshold at which COVID-19 morbidity begins to be reduced, and 10.7 °C as a threshold of COVID-19 outbreak pause. It is concluded that heatwave of late spring can effectively restrict COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in warm arid environments like Egypt. COVID-19 is also highly expected to be restricted as the temperatures increase with the advance of summer season. It is recommended that lag time resulted from the virus incubation period must be considered in COVID-19 mortality and morbidity researches.