Dutch plan to strengthen coastal dykes
As two thirds of the Netherlands lies below sea level, the government is increasingly concerned about catastrophic flooding and its potential effect on the country’s water supplies. ‘The Netherlands has good freshwater provision, but it won’t always be guaranteed,’ said a government statement, reported by AFP, warning of the ‘intrusion of salt water due to rising sea levels’.
In response, the government is planning to strengthen hundreds of kilometres of coastal dykes on the North Sea, deposit huge amounts of sand on the coast, increase river drainage and expand the freshwater lake IJsselmeer, which lies to the north of Amsterdam.
The government hopes these measures will protect the nine million people, out of a total population of 16 million, who live in areas currently kept dry by dykes, as well as the 65 per cent of national production capacity located in areas at risk of flooding.
The news comes as US scientists suggest that sea levels could rise by more than 150 centimetres by the end of the century. In 2007, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggested seas were likely to rise by 28–42 centimetres by 2100; however, scientists from the US Geological Survey believe that these predictions failed to take into account the speed at which glaciers slide into the oceans.
March 2009
In response, the government is planning to strengthen hundreds of kilometres of coastal dykes on the North Sea, deposit huge amounts of sand on the coast, increase river drainage and expand the freshwater lake IJsselmeer, which lies to the north of Amsterdam.
The government hopes these measures will protect the nine million people, out of a total population of 16 million, who live in areas currently kept dry by dykes, as well as the 65 per cent of national production capacity located in areas at risk of flooding.
The news comes as US scientists suggest that sea levels could rise by more than 150 centimetres by the end of the century. In 2007, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggested seas were likely to rise by 28–42 centimetres by 2100; however, scientists from the US Geological Survey believe that these predictions failed to take into account the speed at which glaciers slide into the oceans.
March 2009
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