IT鈥橲 NOT just Britain that鈥檚 been having freak weather. Observations by the
Terra satellite have revealed four new lakes in the desert in southern
Egypt.
Planners knew that Lake Nasser on the Nile, created by the Aswan High Dam in
1971, would overflow if it reached a level of 183 metres. 鈥淏ut nobody thought it
would ever happen,鈥� says geologist Robert Stern of the University of Texas at
Dallas. Two years ago, however, the lake reached its brim for the first time
after years of heavy rains brought about by El Ni帽o, and water spilt over
into the desert.
The new lakes cover 1650 square kilometres north-west of Lake Nasser, Stern鈥檚
team told a meeting of the Geological Society of America this week in Reno,
Nevada.
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