4 ms·
What about the Netherlands, with 20% of the population living below sea level, waiting for the day the dike breaks?
by tr352 8y ago
What about the Netherlands, with 20% of the population living below sea level, waiting for the day the dike breaks?
- gpvos 8y agoWe're not waiting, we're currently reinforcing the dikes so they'll be estimated to break only once every 100,000 years instead of every 10,000 years, while taking sea level rise into account. There's that one dike in Wilnis though that threatens to break every time we have a severe drought, like this year...
- tr352 8y agoI know, I've lived in NL most my life. Must remember Poe's law next time.
- gpvos 8y ago:)
- tajen 8y agoThe Wilnis dike threatens to break every time you have a ... drought? Why don’t you spray water on it, since you have the sea nearby?
- coryfklein 8y ago> threatens to break every time we have a severe drought Interesting! Why would a dike be under greater threat in a drought when there is less water?
- gpvos 8y agoIt dries out, loses volume and weight, then deforms and tears. There was a dike near Wilnis that actually broke in 2003, leading to half a metre of water in some streets there. Maybe the dike that was in the news a few weeks ago (it didn't quite break, but there was some danger) was a different one; I didn't check, but it was also near that village. https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadebreuk_Wilnis https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadebreuk_Wilnis