With melting glaciers in colder climates leading to potentially much higher sea levels, the Netherlands is studying steps it may have to take to protect itself, since much of the country is below sea level and kept habitable by vast systems of dikes and pumping stations.
A report written for the infrastructure ministry says that the country ‘probably’ has the means to protect itself against a three-meter rise in sea level, but also raises questions about whether that’s the right answer. The report points out that strengthening the coastal defenses could cause other water-related problems, including making it harder to pump river water into the sea.
The report says that even a one-meter rise in sea level would require strengthening 2,100 kilometers of dikes and other coastal defense works, saying that would mean “a tighter grip on the use of space in the North Sea and “We will need much more sand.”
