Ecological Human Imprint (EHI) and Water Resources in Egypt Modeling: Impacts and Assessment

Abstract

Ecological Human Imprint (EHI) is a new index that is an important measure for calculating the human demands and impacts on our global environment. In this respect, the ecological human imprint is a function of all the parameters that interact between the power of ecosystem productivity and human interactions and activities on a particular ecosystem or the demand from that ecosystem. The present paper is covering and analyzing the ecosystems’ productivity and the human demand from the ecosystems. It is producing comprehensive analyses in measuring the possibility of capabilities of the ecosystems to provide goods and services to the human beings on our planet Earth. Further, the paper is discussing the models that can be used in measuring the sustainability of ecosystems and, in particular, water resources and what we should be doing to maintain healthy ecosystems in Egypt. In this respect, the paper has assessed and introduced a comprehensive model called Ecological Human Imprint (EHI) and water resources change of Egypt (EHI-WR-EG) that can describe the status of our ecosystems’ productivity and the impacts of changing of water resources on the availability and human population within the Egyptian boundaries. Furthermore, the paper has provided some answers to the human issues in Egypt. Water resources change impacts as the results of human activities. Additionally, the model has provided a warning to the current trend in use and abuse of our natural ecosystems. Furthermore, provides a prediction on what will be expected from these ecosystems to provide the human needs in response to the current use of Egypt’s ecosystems.