Question by Yaman: What are some environmental factors and issues related to climate change in the Netherlands?
What are some environmental factors and issues related to climate change in the Netherlands?
Thanks to anyone that can help
Best answer:
Answer by Mimzy
The country being flooded?
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BB
April 4, 2012 at 8:30 am
The Netherlands has had to deal with ocean levels for centuries. When people decide to live at or below sea-level, there are risks.
The main issue that the Netherlands has to deal with is unrelated to global warming. It is ‘subsidence (the settling of land) due to the extraction of natural gas.
“If natural gas is extracted from a natural gas field the initial pressure (up to 600 bar) in the field will drop over the years. The gas pressure also supports the soil layers above the field. If the pressure drops, the soil pressure increases and this leads to subsidence at the ground level. Since exploration of the Slochteren (Netherlands) gas field started in the late 1960s the ground level over a 250 km² area has dropped with a current maximum of 30 cm”