[jeremyw]

Any recommended material to learn about fragility in the Dutch system?

You've made a number of comments in this vein. Do you see it as apart from the cycle of the successful? Wherein we slowly relax the effort is took to make success. And then deny these efforts altogether, and create fantasies of what _really_ brought success.

[jacquesm]

I'm writing this from ~sea level, and there are large parts of the country around me that are below sea level, some more than just a little bit, think 2 to 3 meters and in extremes more than 6. As the sea level rises the risk of storm surges increases quite a bit. We have essentially barricaded the country against the sea up to a certain point. But beyond that the country would flood much like a bathtub would and even if all those barriers are closed the rivers will pour in water from the other side.

Managing all this is tricky in the short term, difficult in the mid term and quite possibly impossible in the longer term if the sea level rise is more than anticipated when these defenses were built. And you can only raise them so much, if rivers no longer flow out then you'll end up flooded anyway.

[cultureswitch]

The Netherlands are perhaps surprisingly one of the best equipped countries today to deal with sea water rise. Why? Because they have unparalleled experience with it. Other regions of the world that have been routinely under sea level for centuries such as much of SE Asia dealt with the problem differently in a way that might not scale as well to a consistent increase.

[jacquesm]

And in spite of all that we are still very much at risk.

[jeremyw]

Ah, I misunderstood. Thanks for the kind reply.

[WJW]

I think jacquesm means that rising sea levels (due to climate change) is a particular problem for a country where much of the land is below sea level.

[jacquesm]

Yep.