The Netherlands: Climate change helping to sink parts of the Netherlands quicker than expected, say experts - by Chris Harris

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.

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.

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

EU-US Trade Negotiations:Feta,Parmesan,Gouda,Oktoberfest and Bratwurst among key issues in negotiations - by Donovan Slack

Europeans negotiating a free trade deal with the United States have been angling to reserve names like "feta" and "parmesan" only for cheese made in Europe. As it turns out, they also want to mandate that beer names like "Oktoberfest" and meat monikers like, yes, "bratwurst" be allowed on only European-produced beer and sausages.

With a veritable Holy Trinity at risk — cheese, brats and beer — Wisconsin Democrat Sen. Tammy Baldwin jumped into action Friday, persuading a bipartisan group of colleagues to sign on to letters to U.S. trade negotiators urging them to warn Europeans that America won't accept such naming restrictions. She signed onto a similar letter last month about cheese names.

If U.S. negotiators agree to European demands, U.S. manufacturers would have to change product names to "bratwurst-style sausages," "Oktoberfest-like ale" or "the lunch meat formerly known as bologna."

"The current trade proposal by the European Union creates an uneven playing field for our Wisconsin business to compete, export and grow," Baldwin said. "I consider this an attack on our proud traditions and I am standing up for Wisconsin cheese, brats and beer."

Wisconsin colleague Republican Sen. Ron Johnson and more than 40 others signed on to her letter to Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Trade Representative Michael Froman, who has been negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union.

"We urge you to make clear to your EU counterparts that the United States will reject any proposal in TTIP negotiations that would in any way restrict the ability of U.S. producers to use common meat names, such as bologna or black forest ham," Baldwin wrote.

Read More: Senators: Back off our brats, beer

Cheese Production: Lankaaster - This Canadian cheese named best in the world

Move over Stilton, Ontario now makes the king of cheese. Well, the “Supreme Global Champion” of cheese to be exact. Hailing from Lancaster, Ont., and made at Glengarry Cheesemaking, aged Lankaaster (just under two years old at the competition) took top prize at the annual Global Cheese Awards this fall. It was crowned the winner among 167 categories, which included such cheese legends as Shropshire Blue and Parmigiano Reggiano.

The Global Cheese Awards are based in Somerset, England (the birthplace of cheddar), and in 2011 evolved from the annual Frome Cheese Show, which has a 150-year history showcasing artisan cheese makers.

Glengarry owner Margaret Peters knew she had a special cheese when a judge at the 2012 American Cheese Society Awards (Lankaaster won the Gouda category) recommended she enter the Global Cheese competition. Peters looked at the application and thought, “Okay, that’s not too difficult” and entered Laankaster in the best overseas cheese category. Having no expectation of sweeping the entire event, Peters didn’t attend. Luckily, the winning cheese producer gets to keep the trophy for the full year (similar to the Stanley Cup). It arrived in Canada just last week. The win has also been documented in Ontario’s provincial archives.

So what makes this cheese the world’s best? If you like cheese with notes of caramel, butterscotch, pineapple and butter that linger on the palate, you’ll know why Laankaster just gets better with age. It’s complex, balanced, sweet and savoury with no bitter or sharp notes to disrupt its rich smooth finish. “You eat a piece of it and you want to go in a closet alone and keep eating it. It is a cheese that you will never forget the taste of,” Peters says.

Lankaaster has been a personal favourite since I first tasted it in its younger form in 2011. I loved its creamy texture, the approachable mellowness that surprises with a complexity of flavour. It is a Gouda-style cheese (both Peters and cheese-maker Wilma Klein-Swormink come from a Dutch background) and it is based on the traditional boerderij kaas (farm cheese) from the Netherlands. Cheese guru Afrim Pristine has long thought Lankaaster was the best cheese in Canada. He has some of the original loaf-shaped cheeses aging in the caves of Toronto’s Cheese Boutique, one of the few places outside the Glengarry facility that it’s available. (Glengarry will ship the cheese by request.)

 Read more: This Canadian cheese named best in the world - The Globe and Mail