Dutch proposal to dam the North Sea

scientists from the Netherlands and Germany have proposed to construct two massive dams to protect some 25 million people from rising sea levels the mega project stretches between the United Kingdom France and Norway and would completely enclosed the North Sea so is this plan viable or is it as overwhelming and unrealistic as it seems my name is Siobhan and welcome to Kasper report digital life makes things easier but it also leaves fingerprints everywhere Nord VPN makes your internet activity secure and protects you from hackers isp operators and even malicious websites it allows you to enjoy your favorite content securely even when you're away from home all it takes is a click of the mouse visit north VPN combs / Caspian report and use the promo code Caspian report to get 70% of this powerful app sea level rise is a slow but unstoppable process the magnitude of its consequences is difficult to fathom for one it will result in an irreversible loss of physical places cultural sites economic hubs as well as ecological systems it's doubtful that lawmakers across the globe will be capable of delivering a timely response current global temperatures set at roughly 1 Celsius above pre-industrial level while existing policies will further warm up the planet by 2.6 to 3.1 Celsius by the end of the century sea level rise meanwhile has risen over 21 centimetres since 1880 and probabilistic projections claim that it will increase between 84 centimeters and 2 meters by 2100 a more optimistic prediction by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that sea levels will increase between 30 centimeters and 60 centimeters by 2100 if the Paris climate Accord pledges are met it is virtually certain that sea levels will continue to rise beyond the 21st century the point is that however one looks at it sea level rise is unavoidable the risk is particularly profound in the Netherlands about a third of which sits below current sea levels the Dutch government believes that its defenses will hold until about 2050 but further enhancing them will take years for comparison in the last three decades all the work Dutch engineers have put in to strengthen their sea defense system is designed to cope with a rise of only 40 centimetres even by conservative estimates sea levels are rising faster than the Dutch sea defense system can bring about so the Netherlands is in a race for its existence on these grounds marine scientists from the Netherlands and Germany proposed the construction of two barriers which would disconnect a North Sea and Baltic Sea from the Atlantic Ocean the mega project would protect a dozen countries from rising sea levels and it can be achieved by constructing two enclosure dams the northern part of the blueprint extends from the Northeast tip of Scotland via the arc knee and Shetland Islands to Bergen in Norway it has a total length of 476 kilometres and an average depth of 127 meters the deepest point is 321 metres in a Norwegian trench the southern part meanwhile connects the northwest tip of France to the southwest coast of England it measures 161 kilometers in length and has an average depth of about 85 meters and a maximum depth of 102 meters taken together the two components are referred to as the North European enclosure dam and have a total length of 637 kilometers at various points in the barrier large pumps would have to be fixed to transport all of the discharged water that currently flows into the North Sea to the other side of the dams we've constructed the North European enclosure dam would be one of the largest civil engineering projects in world history it would protect about 25 million people currently living by the coastal areas from a sea-level rise of up to two meters the project has some alternative configurations at different locations for instance the southern component could be set parallel to the French English Channel Tunnel though this would leave many coastal communities along the English Channel unprotected in a similar way the Northland component could be moved south allowing for various possible combinations to connect the United Kingdom to Norway possibly involving Denmark but again this would leave many coastal communities unprotected the most technologically challenging portion of the north european enclosure dam is crossing the norwegian trench with depths of 321 metres civil engineering in such deep waters is technically possible fixed oil rigs for example can be constructed in depths over 500 meters but the specifications for dams are different so innovations in engineering would be necessary to cross the Norwegian trench now at first glance the mega project seems overwhelming and even unrealistic then again the costs of doing nothing would be 5 to 10 times more expensive in monetary terms think of all the businesses communities and industrial areas that will be damaged or lost if no action is taken in the face of rising sea levels the only cost effective solution for Northwest Europe is to retreat inland but this measure would displace large communities from their homes and migration from the coastal areas would likely result in social political instability and Notch lawmakers to an impasse regarding climate change policies landlocked European nations would be affected as well since they would be asked to share the burden of migration so considering the alternatives civil engineer protection is left as the most feasible solution to rising sea levels if climate change mitigation policies fail to deliver and in that spectrum the collective project for the North European enclosure dam is more efficient than country-by-country protection efforts there is substantial expertise available with regards to engineering of dikes enclosure dams and land reclamation projects the Netherlands is at the forefront of the science the dimensions of the off slat dike in the Netherlands and the same Angoon sea wall in South Korea are not far off those required for the construction of the enclosure near the Scottish islands of orkney and shetland using the South Korean sea wall as a template the construction of the north european enclosure dam would reach a total bill somewhere between 270 and 550 billion dollars now that sounds a lot but when assuming a 20 year construction period over which to spread the costs the annual expense to the involved nations would amount to just over 0.1 percent of their combined GDP that is a feasible sum especially since the costs of doing nothing would be many times higher but let's stretch our disbelief and imagine that the north european enclosure dam is complete what would be the immediate consequences fishing tourism and the movement of people would be affected but more importantly in closing the North Sea would have a dramatic impact on maritime trade the English Channel which lies entirely within the enclosed North Sea area as the world's busiest waterway the shipping area is the backbone of West Europe's economy and all of Europe's busiest ports lie within the enclosure zone to somewhat mitigate the impact of the mega project on the maritime industry the north european enclosure dam would need to incorporate sluice gates to enable the continuation of maritime traffic it should be noted that even though sluice gates are employed throughout the world they are primarily meant for internal waterways alternatively new ports could be constructed on the ocean-going side of the mega project where goods could be transfer to trains or cargo ships operating within the enclosure space either way whatever mechanisms are mounted to ensure the uninterrupted flow of trade a surge in shipping costs and delays is inevitable the exact effects on maritime traffic cannot be calculated at this point but suffice to say wesh2 Europe's maritime industries and by extension its economy would be crippled beyond repair which would also affect GDP rates all over the world so this is perhaps the biggest drawback of the North European enclosure dam and it needs more studies but there is more in closing the North Sea would also change the environment of the space the circulation of water would be obstructed from entering the basin tides would shift the freshwater discharge would increase while large tidal motions would be suspended in other words constructing the north european enclosure dam would gradually turn the basin into a freshwater lake evidently this would radically affect the whole maritime and terrestrial ecosystems inside and outside the enclosed basin so the plan isn't exactly environmentally friendly but it's either enclosing the North Sea or controlled migration away from the coastal areas with respect to the environment the cost-benefit analysis is in favor of the North European enclosure Dam what's more is that since rising sea levels affect communities across the globe the mega project in the North Sea could set a precedent for other coastal areas similar barriers could enclose the Mediterranean Sea the Baltic Sea the Sea of Japan the Red Sea the Persian Gulf and so on all these cases would require additional studies to assess if their potential construction is worthwhile but the North Sea mega project will set an important precedent admittedly the marine scientists behind the mega project argued that the best solution to sea level rise is to address the core issue human caused climate change only if policymakers are unable to deliver a response in time will there be a need for alternative actions like the mega project in the North Sea so it's a back-up plan in the case that climate change is left unmitigated humankind can accomplish spectacular things both in inspiring and terrifying ways if you look back centuries with terraform Mountains turned jungles into cities but we've also bent the sea to our will the Netherlands is an example of that but the way things are the North Sea mega project is mostly a thought experiment a warming of sort intended to demonstrate the extreme costs of engineered solutions to the effects of climate change of been your host Shivan from Caspian report remember to hit the like button and leave a comment for the algorithm thank you for watching and so [Music]

Channel: CaspianReport

Views: 1,455,820

Rating: 4.7234883 out of 5

Keywords: geography, world geography, facts you didn't know, world atlas, countries, maps, how to, north sea, netherlands, england, united kingdom, france, norway, denmark, europe, dam, project, engineering, dutch, geographics, geopolitics

Id: neFMunVEE8E

Length: 11min 44sec (704 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 24 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/00000000000000000000]

Locked due to low quality comments

[u/geopolitics_banbot]

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[u/eastern_mountains]

Scientists from Netherlands and Germany are proposing a plan to dam the entire North Sea in northern Europe to protect coastal communities. This could potentially benefit coastal regions in UK too apart from Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Norway. The world has accepted the inevitability of climate change and we are into the next stage of technocratic solutions.

[u/gugpanub]

It would depend on the technology behind the dam. The Dutch Deltaworks are made of a collection of 'retractable' damstructures that can be lowered when needed, in times of storms, but are usually are in the up-mode allowing water and life to passthrough more or less. Not a technician, so just an opinion on the science-fiction part of things.

[u/salwaldeer]

I would imagine that countries like Russia, Poland, Sweden, Finland, and the Baltic States would protest about a project like this because it would effectively cut them off from the sea. I know the video mentions a system of locks that would let shipping go through, but I would imagine that would cause severe congestion due to the sheer volume of shipping that goes through there.

I think the scientific viability of this project is the one that is going to be least difficult to overcome.

[u/TheMogician]

I think that's an awful idea. 70 something years ago, some people proposed the Atlantropa, now this?

[u/[deleted]]

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[u/[deleted]]

obviously a play by the dutch to conquer Doggerland. In all seriousness the similar plan for the Mediterranean that was never acted upon would have been a disaster to the climate of the region and effect the climate over the whole planet according to climatologist of today. This would probably have similar unforeseen consequences beyond the North sea slowly turning into fresh water. (I'm aware he touches on this a little bit in the video)

[u/[deleted]]

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