Dutch learn to live with, instead of fight, rising seas

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE58300N20090904

Dutch learn to live with, instead of fight, rising seas

Fri Sep 4, 2009 8:22am EDT

By Ben Berkowitz

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The watermark column inside Amsterdam's city hall is more than just a tourist attraction, it's a reminder that the Dutch capital like much of the rest of the Netherlands is well below sea level.

Some 70 percent of the country's economic output is generated below sea level, protected by a complex-system of ancient dikes and modern cement barriers that hold back water from the sea and the multitude of rivers that weave through the country.

Now, with scientists' predicting that sea levels will rise by about one meter (3.3 feet) this century, the Dutch are reversing centuries of tradition to create natural flood plains for rivers as well as rebuild mangrove swamps as buffers against the sea.

"We've been adapting for 1,000 years. That's nothing new. It's just that climate change is going faster than it was before," said Lennart Silvis, the operational manager of the public-private Netherlands Water Partnership.

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