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The Sinking Country (Advanced Program) · Spotlight English: Advanced

• 0:03
  Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Colin Lautha and I'm Meganolette. Spotlight uses a
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  special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no matter
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  where in the world they live. A city sits on the edge of the
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  North Sea. It is very old. Some of the buildings show this age,
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  but many are surprisingly modern. High glass structures mix with ancient churches,
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  and many canals run between these buildings. The Rhine River flows through the center
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  of the city. The city is beautiful, it is like nowhere else in
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  the world. City is called Rotterdam. It is the largest city in the
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  country of the Netherlands, and this city has a rich history that goes back
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  over eight hundred years. But Rotterdam also has a problem. It is sinking.
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  In fact, much of the Netherlands is sinking. But why today's spotlight
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  is on this sinking country. The Netherlands has a long history of working with
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  water. Over one third of the country is below sea level. In eight
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  hundred BC, much of the land was not land at all. It was
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  under water, but soon people began moving earth into water that was not very
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  deep. They built large mounds higher than the water, called terps. These
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  terps let them build towns and villages. It let them expand toward the sea.
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  Over the years, the Dutch have developed many ways of keeping water out
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  of the land. They built huge walls across lakes and the sea coast.
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  These walls, called dykes, helped them control the water. They kept farmlands
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  from flooding. The Dutch also pumped water out of some areas. The dikes
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  made sure the water would not come back and people could settle there safely.
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  The Dutch have been able to claim a lot of land using these methods.
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  In the nineteen sixties, they even created a new area. It is called
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  Flevland. Working with water is very important to the netherlands success. It helped
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  the country to grow. It is still a very small country, but today
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  it is the seventeenth largest economy in the world. But removing water often has
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  a downside. Much of the Netherlands is built on peat, a special kind
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  of thick, decaying plant material. Usually peat rests on top of water.
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  When the water is gone, it can act like soil, but peat is
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  not very solid. When people put weight on it, it shrinks. When
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  they build on it, the land slowly sinks. This is a process called
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  subsidence. Land subsides naturally in every place on Earth, but the process is
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  very slow. Normally, land will sink only three micrometers a year, that
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  is about the thickness of a piece of paper. But in the Netherlands it
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  is happening very quickly. In some places the land is sinking over two centimeters
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  each year. For the people of Rotterdam, this is a very big problem.
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  Many buildings there are very old, some were built hundreds of years ago.
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  They do not have good foundations. When the ground subsides, those foundations
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  can break. If people do not do something, the buildings may fall over.
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  But there is another reason why the country sinking is a problem. Climate
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  change. All over the world, sea levels are rising. This means that
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  more areas of the Netherlands will be below sea level and they will be more
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  at risk from flooding. Whole cities will be in danger. It will be
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  come harder and harder to keep them above water. But the people of the
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  Netherlands are not giving up. Instead, they are making plans for the future.
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  Some believe that the old methods will still work. The Dutch could continue
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  to build dikes and pump water, but as sea levels rise, the cost
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  of this method will go up as well. Instead, the Dutch are doing
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  something different. They are not completely keeping the water out. They are letting
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  some in. They call this the Room for the River program. In this
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  program, the Dutch ask people to leave some low areas near rivers, or
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  they repurpose public places. If there is a flood, these areas will fill
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  first. They will keep water out of larger cities and towns. Hans Doctor
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  is a Dutch ambassador. He spoke to Haret's news service about the effort.
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  That's the idea of living with the sea, living with the water. In
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  the past we tried to keep the water out as much as we could.
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  Now we join it much more to our living areas. The Room for the
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  River's project is part of a larger movement in the Netherlands. Subsidence and climate
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  change are already happening. The country will get lower and water levels will rise.
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  It will be impossible to stop the water completely. So the Dutch are
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  changing their lives. They are trying to live with the new situation. In
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  some places these changes have already begun. Stan Flee Wreckers is a farmer from
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  the Netherlands. The government bought his farm as part of the room for the
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  river project, but flee Wreckers did not want to move, so the government
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  built a large terp in the area. Flee Wreckers moved his farm on to
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  the turp. Now, when the area floods, there is water in his
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  old farm land, but he is living high above it. Many more people
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  may soon live like Fleerracers. The Dutch may build the land up instead of
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  keeping the water out, or they may make homes with new building standards.
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  Some people may even build their houses on columns or pillars. These tall posts
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  will hold the building above the ground. When water comes, it will go
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  under. The land will still flood, but the flood will not harm anyone.
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  In Rotterdam, buildings are already made to hold or be above water.
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  These efforts are very expensive, but in the Netherlands it may be worth it.
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  Fleerrickers spoke to the magazine Politico. It is not as expensive as when
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  a village is flooded. We spend a lot of money in Holland on water
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  management. We have to do it. If we do not, we will
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  be flooded. There will be no factories, no people will live here.
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  It will all be gone. Many other countries will soon need to think about
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  these solutions themselves. As climate change gets worse, many other cities will be
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  in danger of flooding. Cities like Bangkok, Jakarta, and New Orleans already
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  at dealing with the problem. No country can solve climate change by themselves.
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  Everyone must work together to handle the issue. But many countries may look to
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  the Netherlands as an example. They have a long history of dealing with water.
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  That history may be just what the future needs. Do you live in
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  a place threatened by climate change? What is your country doing to address it?
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  You can leave a comment on our website or email us at Radio at
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  Radio English dot net. You can also comment on Facebook at Facebook dot com
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  slash Spotlight Radio. The writer of this program was Dan Christman. The producer
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  was Dan Christman. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the
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  United States. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight.
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  You can listen to this program again and read it on the internet at www
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  dot Radio English dot net. This program is called The Sinking Country. You
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  can also get our programs delivered directly to your Android or Apple device through our
• 10:41
  free official Spotlight English app. We hope you can join us again for the
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  next Spotlight program. Goodbye,