Rising above water

Marta Jiménez | October 2021, Utrecht University

Sea levels are rising, and the rate of rise is accelerating. All over the world, many of today’s dikes, sea walls and flood barriers won’t be enough to hold back the water in the future. This will be particularly a problem in countries that lack the resources to maintain or fund extensive engineering projects to protect their citizens. But we can all learn from alternative, more affordable and flexible approaches that adapt to the rising water currently emerging all around the world.

Rather than only battling to keep ever-rising seas out, these natural solutions aim to help rebuild land above sea level. Researchers from Utrecht University are testing which of these strategies will work for specific regions to help tame the tide. And they’re also thinking ahead: how can we minimise the damage and ensure people have somewhere safe to go when the water does come?

Listen to the podcast:

Water poured from the sky, like it often does in the Netherlands. Jana Cox was about to give a presentation about the impact of climate change on rivers to the Dutch Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat), when the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) released KNMI Klimaatsignaal 21 that stopped her in her tracks. “All sea level rise scenarios scientists have been working on since 2014 were underestimated, the report said. The new worst-case scenario is double previous estimates”, recalls Cox, a Physical Geography PhD candidate at Utrecht University.

Please read the essay (estimated reading time: 14 minutes). It includes several explanation videos of the rise in sea level, our land, the infrastructure, and future governance.