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Solutions |
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Solutions: Waterworks in the Netherlands, 2006
The Maeslantkering is a storm surge barrier that automatically closes to protect Rotterdam and surrounding towns from flooding in the case of an abnormally large storm surge. Each of the barrier "arms" is as tall as the Eiffel Tower if placed upright. If sea levels rise as predicted due to global warming, other nations may need to adopt similar mechanisms of protection.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has predicted that sea levels will rise between 9 and 88 cm in the next 100 years due to global warming. "A quarter of The Netherlands lies below sea level... Another quarter, while slightly higher, is still low enough that, in the natural course of events, it would regularly be flooded" (Elizabeth Kolbert, Field Notes from a Catastrophe).
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