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4. Rotterdam • The Netherlands

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Uploaded by on May 20, 2009

We have selected 100 unique places on Earth that are projected to
undergo profound changes within the next few generations.

We based our selection of the 100 places on the 4th Assessment
Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Simply by drawing attention to the beauty of these places, 100 Places to
Remember Before they Disappear creates an argument to preserve
them.

The 100 Places we have chosen to highlight, and the people who
live in them, are in serious danger because of rising sea levels, rising
temperatures and extreme weather events triggered by climate change.

Among ambassadors are Joss Stone, Desmund Tutu for more info visit http://www.100places.com.

900 Years Behind Dykes, Dams and Barriers

With more than half their city lying below sea level, the people of Rotterdam have lived behind dykes and dams to protect them from the sea, storms and flooding for almost 900 years.

In fact, 55% of the whole of the Netherlands is below sea level. At 6.76 metres below sea level, the countrys lowest point is just east of Rotterdams centre, so the city is extremely sensitive to storms, floods and any rise in the sea level.

The shipping trade has been Rotterdams principal economic asset since the 1350s. Today, the city is the largest port in Europe and one of the busiest in the world, accounting for 25% of the Netherlands total emissions of CO2.

In the late 1990s, a storm-surge barrier, the Maeslantkering, was constructed to protect the city and its surrounding areas from rising sea levels and flooding. Its two huge gates, each the size of the Eiffel Tower, allow the inlet to be closed to the harbour and its hinterland. The barrier is one of the largest moving structures on Earth, and is designed to resist a five-metre rise in the water level. It closes automatically when the water level is forecast to rise to three metres above normal. According to Dutch prognoses, this should occur only once every 10 years, and once every five years from 2050.

In November 2007, 10 years after it was inaugurated, the barrier closed for the first time. Just a few years earlier, a flood had fallen a mere centimetre short of the threshold. During a major storm in 1953, a level of 3.85 metres was registered.

Although Rotterdam seems safe for the time being, climate change could cause a further rise in sea levels, extreme storms and flooding.

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  • @pandthebeach No YOU are making a mistake, there is a "stormvloedkering" (storm surge barrier) called the Maeslantkering near Hoek van Holland in the Nieuwe Waterweg. It was the last part of the delta works.

    Zie in het Nederlands nl wikipedia org / wiki / Maeslantkering.

  • Stupid mistake the narator is talking about; the 5 m high wall to protect the thje lowlands from the water is not in Rotterdam but in the province 'Zeeland' 40km south of the harbour... It's called 'the deltaworks' and the started engineering this in the 1970's in reaction of a big 'dike-breaktrough' (funny word) in the 1950's. It took about 25 - 30 years to build and protects the south of the Netherlands from the sea...

  • @wwwwowomgcom but its my shithole

  • @sabashsabash you put this on every fucking video!

  • These videos only do the following:

    1. define an "obvious" problem/issue,

    2. uses a catchy phrase "turn solutions into actions", and

    3. then moves on to the next obvious problem/issue ...

    It doesn't provide a solution. WHAT is the solution to the challenges the world is facing? Climate change is a global issue. HOW to deal with it?

    Typical marketing journalism with no substance at all.

  • @DRWatchmen Its bullshit about that climat and heating of the earth, rising of water there has always been climate chance. Rotterdam has always been a couple of meters below the sealevel they got a gate that closes if there's a storm coming up to protect the haven but not for the sealevel

  • no more drugs for western europe

    lol

    good thing imo

  • why believe them?

    i bet they got paid to say that by the industries that benefit from pollution

  • Who makes these videos? They are pure lies! IPCC (UN climate panel) predicts between 18 and 59 centimeters - most likely much less than half a meter - over the next 100 years. That will be of no consequence to Rotterdam and The Netherlands! They will adapt, if needed, and will handle this with NO PROBLEM.

  • lol

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