> Even then, I don't think they've
> actually talked much about remediation except in the comfortable
> abstract, with little mention of the Netherlands, much less
> Bangladesh.
Thanks for keeping us dwellers of the Pays-Bas in mind! The official elevation of Amsterdam is two meters (!) below sea level, which certainly brings home the issue of global warming in a tangible way. Interestingly enough, the most immediate threat here is not gradually rising sea levels but the dangers posed by the big rivers which traverse the country and empty into the North Sea. As part of climate change, warmer, wetter winters are anticipated in Europe, and given that the Rhine, the Maas, et al serve as drainpipes for vast swathes of northwestern Europe, a ferocious rainstorm in late winter/early spring can wreak a lot of havoc. As in New Orleans, the waterways tend to be higher than the surrounding land; water has continually pumped from the polders to keep them drained. Hence, a break has the potential to cause a lot of mischief.
Ten or twelve years ago, there was such a storm, and the Rhine swelled to dangerous heights (some of you may recall pictures of German towns submerged in a several meters of water). Here in Holland, a couple hundred thousand people were evacuated from certain areas along the Rhine. I don't want to sound too triumphalist but it was certainly handled better than Katrina; staying home, as some people desired, was not an option. In the event, there were no breaks, and everyone returned home after a couple of days.
According to an article in yesterday's NRC Handelsblad, €26 billion is thought to be needed to strengthen the defenses along the big rivers. That would be the equivalent of about US$ 600 billion for the US (20x the population of NL), the cost, say, of four years of fighting the war in Iraq. Any way you cut it, it's a lot of dough, but Holland, like the US, is a prosperous place; it can afford it. In fact, it can't afford not to.
--
Colin Brace
Amsterdam