Keeping our feet dry in the North Sea lowlands

The recent Asian tsunami and flooding of New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina are two prominent examples that demonstrate the vulnerability of low-lying coastal areas. Also, the riverine floods in England of this summer illustrate the vulnerability of human lives and socio-economic investments in flood plains.

Storm surges represent a major natural hazard in the North Sea region, with around 40,000 km² of low-lying land at coastal flood risk in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Denmark and the UK.  Without appropriate coastal (flood and erosion) management and flood defence measures, this area, where about 16 million people live, would be at an unacceptable level of flood risk (see map below that roughly delineates the mean sea level without flood defences).

How do we manage our coasts in 2050?

One of the key conditions for social fulfilment and economic development in these areas, is a safe coast. Climate change, with associated sea level rise and possibly intenser storms, has now become the foremost environmental issue affecting the world and most experts agree that the risk of coastal flooding will increase in the coming decades.

             Click countries for national files, for a more interactive detailed map click here

There is the prospect of increased storminess, more extreme events and of course sea level rise. The issue of developments within the vulnerable coastal zone needs to be thoroughly considered for the future.

Project Safecoast enables coastal managers, professionals and practitioners to share their knowledge and experience to broadening their scope on flood risk management in order to find new ways to keep our feet dry in the future. With this in mind, never hesitate to share your ideas and feedback with us.

Knowledge exchange starts with information sharing.
Many initiatives with respect to climate change, flooding, coastal management, research and policy have been or are carried out at the moment. See the links, downloads or national files page for an extensive overview of relevant web resources and documents.