Rising sea levels due to climate change is likely to ensure that much of the Netherlands will be literally under water by 2050 if no changes are made
By Adriana Dancu
A new study conducted by the American NGO Climate Central shows very clearly the consequences of climate change on the sea level across the world. According to the analysts, large parts of the planet will be under water by 2050, including Groningen. This interactive map shows the terrifying future of many countries.
“If there are no drastic changes in global CO2 emissions, some 640 million people will have lost their homes by the year 2100,” said the American Climate Central, which used 51 million datasets to create the interactive map. The American Climate Central determined that large parts of the mainland will suffer from high water, unless CO2 emissions decrease significantly. This means that large parts of the world would become uninhabitable and hundreds of millions of people would be forced to move. To combat flooding in Groningen, the dikes should also be raised considerably.
This risk is global, reports OOG. Southeast Asia is affected annually, and many European cities are also at risk, because they are barely above sea level, and sometimes even partly below it. In the Netherlands, this risk is run mainly by Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague; Groningen, and the Wadden Islands. In the rest of Europe, Hamburg, Antwerp and Venice, among others run the highest risk.
By 2050 the Netherlands will have to deal with heavy floods that reach as far as the Hondsrug (a ridge of sand located mainly in the province of Drenthe and partly in Groningen), reports SIKKOM. While floods are not something new in the Netherlands, it is unknown how high the dikes would have to be in order to cope with rising sea levels.
