Netherlands and the Natural Hazards

Netherlands: The Natural Disasters That Affect the Land

            In the Netherlands, there are few natural disasters that the citizens need to be worried about. However, the few natural disasters that do occur can cause catastrophic events. The two most worrisome natural disasters in the Netherlands is flooding, and climate change. The reason that these are the most worrisome is that over 50% of the Netherlands is at sea level or just barely above sea level.

Although flooding is frequent and sea level changes can be devastating, the country of the Netherlands have the most advanced dikes and dam systems in the world and are well prepared to prevent any gradual changes in sea level rise. The flooding of the land in the Netherlands would cause immense damage along with many deaths but since the dikes are extremely advanced there would have to be a major flood to cause destruction as such. (http://geography.about.com/od/specificplacesofinterest/a/dykes.html)

            Climate change is the most significant hazard to the Netherlands simply because of the amount of rivers and the low land level. Climate change can lead to changes in the amount of annual precipitation, the change of wind direction, and also the type of climate that exists. These changes in climate can cause the rivers to overflow or the wind can completely alter the flow of the river causing the water to flood surrounding land.

            Climate change can occur through the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It can also be caused by the change in warm air and cold air that collide over the Netherlands as the low pressure masses come in from Iceland and the high pressure masses come from the Azores. The change in these pressure masses would greatly affect the climate of the entire country causing warmer weather or maybe the opposite and bring more cold weather. (https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/409956/Netherlands)

            The initial plan to prevent flooding and climate change would be to continue the excellent research on the dikes and dams to be ready in case of an enormous flood or disaster. Since climate change in not easily controllable, the best precautions to take would be to limit the amount of automobile use, which is already well praised in the Netherlands, and also to have companies use strict protocol when disposing chemicals.

            By having flooding prevention such as the dikes and dams, the gradual increase in sea levels would be manageable and would not be an instant threat to the citizens. However, the climate change would be difficult to maintain just because humans cannot control the weather. Humans can help prevent the climate from becoming drastically different but people cannot ultimately control the weather.

            The areas of the Netherlands that would need the most assistance and precautions would have to be the coastal areas and the areas of land that surround the massive rivers in the country. These areas would need to make sure the dikes and flood prevention measures are all up to par in order to prevent against a major flood or a rise in the sea level.

         If I were to live in the Netherlands I would construct my home in the city of Amsterdam because of the education that is in the area and just the overall functionality of the city itself. As a result of being a highly educated area, along with a very hard working culture, the city of Amsterdam was voted the best city to live in in the country of the Netherlands. Although the elevation is still less than 10 meters above sea level, I would feel completely safe living in the city of Amsterdam as not many other cities have a higher elevation themselves. (http://www.iamexpat.nl/read-and-discuss/expat-page/news/best-place-to-live-netherlands)

 

 

 

Severe Weather in the Netherlands

http://www.amsterdam.info/netherlands/geography/

          The Netherlands is not really known for extreme natural disasters; however, the Netherlands constantly is at threat from sea storms and flooding. These storms and floods have caused catastrophic events in the early history of the Netherlands but with the impressive systems of dykes and huge pumping stations, the people of the Netherlands have been able to defend themselves against the flooding.

http://www.severe-weather.eu/recent-events/several-tornadoes-reported-from-the-netherlands-november-3-2013/

          The Netherlands do have some tornadoes that affect the nation as well as severe coastal storms. In November 2013, at least 4 tornadoes were reported and were believe to be at a EF-1 level which can cause moderate damage but are considered weak. The Netherlands do have a fair share of tornadoes per year although most of them are within the EF-1 level.

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/cyclone-wrecks-dutch-town
         
          I found a video of the destruction of a Dutch town in Hollands back in the year 1925. It shows the extreme nature of the powerful storms that are rare but deadly in the Netherlands. It is pretty crazy to see how much damage that these cyclones can do in such a short time.

http://alarm.noodweercentrale.nl/storm-en.html

This link is to the severe weather alert website to alert any citizens in the Netherlands if there is any severe storms coming through. This website is very useful and can help prevent major losses if a severe storm was the hit the nation.

Sinkholes in the Netherlands

A sinkhole, or more commonly called in the Netherlands a shakehole or doline, is a depression or hole in the ground that is caused by the collapse of the surface layer of soil. Sinkholes can vary in size from 1 meter to 600 meters in both depth and diameter. Sinkholes can also form gradually or very suddenly.

Although giant sinkholes are not very common in the Netherlands, there is still many smaller sinkholes and depressions in the land. I found a story about a couple that lived in the Netherlands left their water sprinklers on for 3 days while they were vacationing in Germany and it caused a neighbors patio to sink because of the loosened soil beneath the floor.

In the Netherlands, the ground and soil usually since after a good amount of years so they have to go and raise the ground with sand to prevent a sinkhole. But this is only useful for small gardens and yards.

The Netherlands use dikes that help regulate water flow from the countryside and keep the water from washing away the land. Since about 20% of the population live under sea level and 50% of the population live just 1 meter above sea level, these dikes are extremely important in preventing flooding and soil damage from causing sinkholes.



http://nl.aup.nl/books/9789053566534-etymologisch-woordenboek-van-het-nederlands-deel-1-a-t-m-e.html

http://www.bndestem.nl/regio/bergen-op-zoom/bergen-op-zoom/vrouw-zakt-in-sinkhole-in-bergen-op-zoom-1.3946167?ref=carousel

Mass Wasting

Mass wasting is the array of processes in which earth material is transported down a slope by the force of gravity. Mass wasting can be either slow moving (creeping) or fast moving.

The types of mass wasting are creep, slump and slide, flow and fall.

• Creep is a slow downward movement of regolith as a result of gravity.
• Slump and Slide occurs when a mass of regolith slides over or creates a concave surface. As a result, a small, crescent-shaped cliff known as a scarp, is formed at the upper end.
• Flow is when a less uniform, or more chaotic, mass of material moves rapidly down a slope.
• Fall is the movement along slopes that almost perpendicular to the ground.

http://www.scienceclarified.com/everyday/Real-Life-Chemistry-Vol-8/Mass-Wasting.html

http://geography.about.com/od/hazardsanddisasters/a/masswastinglandslide.htm

Given that the Netherlands is a very low altitude and has very little, if any, mountainous terrain, there is barely any type of mass wasting. The Netherlands does get a significant amount of rainfall so if they do have mountains and cliffs, I would assume that the Netherlands would have mudslides and landslides.

I was not able to find any information on mass wasting in the Netherlands. I spent almost 2 and a half hours researching and I had no luck.

If you have any links or information so that i can learn about it myself that would be greatly appreciated.

Tsunamis

Safety precautions are a major factor in the prevention of disasters and limiting the destruction and deaths of that disaster. Growing up in California, I was always taught how to react if an earthquake happened and by constantly practicing the evacuation, it is almost like second nature and I feel that is how people should be prepared for any natural disaster.

People who live within Tsunami zones should be prepared in case of a Tsunami occurring. For example, people should have an evacuation plan and have simple plan to react if a tsunami were to occur.

In the Netherlands, tsunamis are extremely uncommon so the people do not readily have safety guidelines such as the FEMA warnings for the US. However, the Netherlands do experiences a phenomenon known as meteotsunamis. Although tsunamis and meteotsunamis would look the same to a regular citizen, they differ due to the source of where the waves come from. These meteotsunamis are typically caused by air pressure disturbances, which include atmospheric gravity waves, roll clouds, pressure jumps, and squalls.

http://geology.about.com/od/tsunamis/qt/Meteotsunamis.htm
http://www.cyclopaedia.fr/wiki/Tsunamis_affecting_the_British_Isles
http://us.wow.com/wiki/Tsunamis_affecting_the_British_Isles

Volcanoes in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, there are no active volcanoes at the moment; however, there is 3 known extinct volcanoes that have been discovered in recent years.

The most popular extinct volcano is the Quill. The Quill is a dormant volcano located in the Caribbean Netherlands. The volcano is at 601 meters above sea level, which makes it the second highest mountain in the Netherlands as well. The name itself comes from a Dutch word "Kuil" which is a pit or hole, and this is because of the shape of the original volcanic crater.The Quill was designated by the Netherlands as a National Park and is used by many as hiking trails.

http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=360020

Week 4 Earthquakes

• The Netherlands is not usually active when it comes to earthquakes due to the fact that they are pretty far away from the Eurasian and North American plates. However, there have been a few earthquakes that have hit the Netherlands in the past.
• The last big earthquake to hit the Netherlands happened September 8 2011 with a magnitude of 4.2 on the Richter scale.

• Although the Netherlands does not typically have seismic activity, some eastern parts of the Netherlands experience earthquakes due to a long, thin rift valley where there is an uplifting of the Alps and the collision of the Eurasian and African plates.
• The Netherlands does experiences some seismic activity due to  the oil drilling that the government does. Although the seismic activity was not a factor at first, a lot more seismic activity has been tracked in the recent years.
• Because of these new earthquakes, residents have began calling on the government to shut down oil drilling because the drilling has caused earthquakes that have damaged houses and sent the property prices of houses extremely down.

http://article.wn.com/view/2015/02/19/Natural_gas_drilling_is_causing_earthquakes_in_Europe_too/
http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2011/09/earthquake-in-netherlands-8-september.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/netherlands/10162343/Earthquakes-from-onshore-gas-drilling-threaten-a-disaster-warn-residents-of-Dutch-city.html