Results 1 to 3 of 3
  1. #1
    Lazy Idle Couch Potato Heptagon_ru's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Russia, near Moscow
    Posts
    1,154

    Sorry J, your country is sinking.

    According to Russian press, The Netherlands is sinking. Based on this article. Sorry J

  2. #2
    Just goes to show what Russians know The Netherlands are not sinking.

    The Netherlands used to be mainly marshland. The land is drying up which causes it to shrink. The result may look similar, but the cause and solution are very different. The cause for the land drying up is all the stuff we're building on top of the land like roads, buildings, green houses (farms), etc. Because of this rain can no longer get into the ground like it could before which causes it to dry out and shrink. And of course our polders which are areas where we have artificially lowered the water level by pumping out all of the excess water. A lower water level in marshlands means that the water in the top soil gets drained. When ground dries out it shrinks.

    With the land shrinking and sea level rising, the dykes have to be made larger than before. So as long as we keep up with dyke maintenance and expansion nothing really changes. We've been living below sea level for hundreds of years

    The Katrina disaster in New Orleans is exactly the stuff we've learned from in the past. We did some stuff with dykes like the afsluitdijk which was completed in 1932. However due to the great depression and World War II priority for dyke maintenance was at an all time low. As a result there was a huge flood in 1953 after which our world famous delta works were started to keep the sea in check. Ever since we've been successful in keeping the sea where it belongs.

    Before the delta works the afsluitdijk and other dykes The Netherlands would flood quite regularly. In my home town you can still see the marks the water left on some of the older buildings. Interestingly enough important buildings at the time were build on terps so when floods came they would remain dry. In my home town the town center is build on a huge lump. Everything outside the city center however would get under water during floods, including my house from 1905. But keep in mind that such severe floods would only happen once or twice in a century. So when people were old at the ripe age of 40 this would maybe happen once every four generations making the problem seem less serious.

  3. #3
    Lazy Idle Couch Potato Heptagon_ru's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Russia, near Moscow
    Posts
    1,154
    Thanks, this is an interesting read.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •