Here's how sea level rise is threatening even the most prepared countries

Mar 31, 2023

An overhead shot of a landscape in the Netherlands.

Are other countries as prepared for the future as the Netherlands? Image: Unsplash/Ezra/ezravdl

Elizabeth Claire Alberts

Staff Writer, Mongabay

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In 2003, experts identified the Scheveningen shoreline as one of several “weak links” in the Dutch coastal defense against sea level rise. Image: Mongabay/Farah Obaidullah.

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Piles of debris collected on Scheveningen Beach after a storm, 1980. sea level rise

Piles of debris collected on Scheveningen Beach after a storm, 1980. Image: Mongabay/Farah Obaidullah.

sea level rise: The Netherlands has one of lowest elevations in the world, so it will undoubtedly face many challenges if sea levels continue to mount. But at the moment, the country seems well-prepared.

The Netherlands has one of lowest elevations in the world, so it will undoubtedly face many challenges if sea levels continue to mount. But at the moment, the country seems well-prepared. Image: Flickr/Zandmotor

The earliest inhabitants of the Netherlands — a nation whose name literally means “low-lying country” — used an interconnected system of dikes, levees, and polders. Image: Keringhuis

Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, is about 2 meters below sea level and will be one of the first cities to be impacted by sea level rise. Image: Flickr/Sergiy Galyonkin

Potential strategies for the Netherlands to adapt to accelerated sea level rise. Image: Deltares

The Maeslantkering stays open to allow vessels to travel up and down the canal linking the North Sea to Rotterdam, but the doors will close if there’s a storm surge of around 3 m (10 ft) Image: Keringhuis

e Zandmotor works in tandem with nature to collect and redistribute sand along the coastline, creating and strengthening dunes without further human involvement. Image: Rijkswaterstraat

A water management solution that the children came up with to tackle sea level rise. Image: Mongabay

The Oosterscheldekering, one of the four storm barriers built during the Delta Works. sea level rise

The Oosterscheldekering, one of the four storm barriers built during the Delta Works. Image: Wikimedia Commons/Isaï Symens

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