4 ms·

Being from the Netherlands, albeit not living there, this is kinda worrying..

by pan69 13y ago

mseebach 13y ago
Your nation is literally built on contempt of sea levels. Using only renaissance technology. Even if the rest of the world is submerged, I imagine a single Netherlands-shaped island in the vast sea, populated by unmoved people not sure exactly what the fuss is all about.
- copx 13y ago
  Indeed, about 20% of the Netherlands are already beneath the sea level. Sea levels rise slowly and the Netherlands are rich. I expect the Dutch to simply build bigger dikes. In fact maybe they will not even have to. The current installations are probably already designed to hold even at a noticeably higher sea level for safety reasons. At least I cannot remember ever hearing about flooding disasters in the Netherlands during my lifetime, despite the fact that the land is coastal, flat, and beneath or close to the sea level. Kind of embarrassing actually. I am sitting in neighboring Germany and we seem to have a major flooding disaster every couple of years.. and just because of the natural water level fluctuations in the rivers! I do not mean to say that rising sea levels are not a serious problem.. just probably not for the Dutch.
  - erichurkman 13y ago
    In fact, I'd bet the rising sea levels will enrich the Dutch even more through expansive, international public works projects. Those need engineering firms with extensive experience with water, dikes, dams, storms, etc: something the Dutch should excel at.
gavinpc 13y ago
New Orleanian here, and we're in the same boat. Except that we don't even need rising seas. What this map doesn't show is the land uncovered by melting ice. Something a Canadian or Russian might be thinking about. I remember hearing when I was growing up how we're going to "run out of oil." Haven't heard anything about that lately.

4 ms·

Being from the Netherlands, albeit not living there, this is kinda worrying..

by pan69 13y ago

Being from the Netherlands, albeit not living there, this is kinda worrying..

mseebach 13y ago
Your nation is literally built on contempt of sea levels. Using only renaissance technology. Even if the rest of the world is submerged, I imagine a single Netherlands-shaped island in the vast sea, populated by unmoved people not sure exactly what the fuss is all about.
- copx 13y ago
  Indeed, about 20% of the Netherlands are already beneath the sea level. Sea levels rise slowly and the Netherlands are rich. I expect the Dutch to simply build bigger dikes. In fact maybe they will not even have to. The current installations are probably already designed to hold even at a noticeably higher sea level for safety reasons. At least I cannot remember ever hearing about flooding disasters in the Netherlands during my lifetime, despite the fact that the land is coastal, flat, and beneath or close to the sea level. Kind of embarrassing actually. I am sitting in neighboring Germany and we seem to have a major flooding disaster every couple of years.. and just because of the natural water level fluctuations in the rivers! I do not mean to say that rising sea levels are not a serious problem.. just probably not for the Dutch.
  - erichurkman 13y ago
    In fact, I'd bet the rising sea levels will enrich the Dutch even more through expansive, international public works projects. Those need engineering firms with extensive experience with water, dikes, dams, storms, etc: something the Dutch should excel at.
gavinpc 13y ago
New Orleanian here, and we're in the same boat. Except that we don't even need rising seas. What this map doesn't show is the land uncovered by melting ice. Something a Canadian or Russian might be thinking about. I remember hearing when I was growing up how we're going to "run out of oil." Haven't heard anything about that lately.