The Dutch Are Making Sure Sea Water Stays Where It Belongs
As we’ve discussed, there are two fundamental strategies in dealing with climate change: mitigation (reducing greenhouse gas emissions that are causing the problem), and adaptation (dealing with rising temperatures and their effects).
As ocean waters warm and thus expand, and as ice sheets on Greenland and the Antarctic melt, our sea levels rise. Adaptation here means building a combination of sea walls and channels by which flood waters can drain quickly and safely.
The good folks in the Netherlands are no strangers to the issues associated with too much water; thus the wind mills they’ve had in place for hundreds of years. Modern times cause for more drastic measures, aided by modern technology. Linked above is an article that explains what the Dutch are up to.
Craig,
i notice you seem to have a fascination for the Netherlands. That’s great, but you also don’t appear to have much of an understanding about this small European nation.
About one third of the Netherlands has always existed below sea level for over 800 years. The part of the European continent has been slowly sinking for over 10,000 years, while other parts are rising.
That’s the nature of coastlines. Coastlines are not static but constantly changing.
Sea walls and other heavy installations can be very detrimental to allowing natural coastline developments, especially on islands. These installations can interfere with the lift or growth processes experienced by many island which are not yet full understood.
In the case of the Netherlands, the sea dykes were originally erected as land reclamation, as in that part of Europe, reclaimed land was very rich and fertile in an ear when soil were easily exhausted from over farming.
I don’t know if you noticed but one of the principal materials in constructing sea walls is
“asphalt” or “asphalt cement”. Asphalt cement is refined residue from the distillation of crude oil.