Climate change is playing a major role in the Netherlands sinking more than expected, say researchers.
A team from Delft University of Technology made the conclusion after publishing the first nationwide figures on subsidence.
Ramón Hanssen, a professor of geodesy and earth observation at the university, told Spanish newspaper El Pais: “We have been pumping water for 400 years to cultivate and raise animals on dry land, and the ground has been falling below sea level.
"We already knew this, but with this new map we see clearly that in the west of the country, with clay soils and peat, the latter disappears once exposed due to the periodic suction of water, it oxidises when it comes into contact with the air and contributes to CO2 emissions.
"If the subsidence continues at its current pace, it could mean the end for the typical Dutch landscape of meadows, cows and windmills or cause huge damage to historic city centres."
Read more:Climate change helping to sink parts of the Netherlands quicker than expected, say experts | Euronews
A team from Delft University of Technology made the conclusion after publishing the first nationwide figures on subsidence.
They used GPS and radar data as well as gravity measurements to produce a special subsidence map.
It shows the western city of Gouda, for instance, is sinking by three millimetres per year, on average.
It shows the western city of Gouda, for instance, is sinking by three millimetres per year, on average.
Ramón Hanssen, a professor of geodesy and earth observation at the university, told Spanish newspaper El Pais: “We have been pumping water for 400 years to cultivate and raise animals on dry land, and the ground has been falling below sea level.
"We already knew this, but with this new map we see clearly that in the west of the country, with clay soils and peat, the latter disappears once exposed due to the periodic suction of water, it oxidises when it comes into contact with the air and contributes to CO2 emissions.
"If the subsidence continues at its current pace, it could mean the end for the typical Dutch landscape of meadows, cows and windmills or cause huge damage to historic city centres."
Read more:Climate change helping to sink parts of the Netherlands quicker than expected, say experts | Euronews
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