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Floating Homes In The Netherlands | Earth Wise

January 24, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Netherlands is a country that is largely built on reclaimed land and a third of it remains below sea level. The Dutch have long experience with dealing with rising waters. The city of Amsterdam has almost 3,000 houseboats in its canals.

As sea levels continue to rise across the globe, it is no surprise that the Dutch have taken the lead in creating communities composed of floating houses and buildings.

A floating house is a structure fixed to the shore, often resting on steel poles, and usually connected to the local sewer system and power grid. They are much like ordinary houses except that instead of a basement, they have a concrete hull that acts as a counterweight, allowing them to remain stable in the water.

The ones in the Netherlands are often prefabricated, square-shaped, three-story townhouses. Rotterdam, which is 90% below sea level, is home to the world’s largest floating office building as well as a floating farm.

Floating buildings have their challenges, not the least of which are the effects of severe wind and rainstorms, or even the passing of large ships which can make the buildings rock. Infrastructure like electricity and sewer service is not that simple to implement for the buildings. But the benefits of floating buildings may outweigh the costs.

For cities facing worsening floods and a shortage of buildable land, floating homes are a potential solution for expanding urban housing in the age of climate change. Dutch engineers are spearheading floating building projects in Britain, France, and Norway, as well as in threatened island locations like French Polynesia and the Maldives.

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Embracing a Wetter Future, the Dutch Turn to Floating Homes

Photo, posted May 23, 2007, courtesy of Jeff Hutchison via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Disease On Coral Reefs

February 19, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The warming oceans have led to bleaching events in coral reefs around the world, but bleaching is not the only problem corals face. Disease outbreaks are also becoming more frequent, severe, and widespread.

Many factors are contributing to the problem, including pollution and nitrogen runoff from fertilizers and coastal sewer and septic systems. However, the key culprit is likely the steadily increasing ocean temperatures, which are the cause of coral bleaching. Elevated water temperatures can cause coral polyps to expel the algae that sustains them and gives them color.

According to scientists, bleaching makes corals more susceptible to illness. In the Caribbean, a coral disease hotspot, about 80% of coral cover has disappeared, largely from outbreaks of “white band disease”, so called because of a white band of dead tissue that forms in affected corals. Two crucial reef-building species, elkhorn and staghorn coral, are now nearing extinction in the regions. The reef extending along the Florida coastline is the third largest reef ecosystem in the world and nearly 35% of it has been lost to disease.

Estimates are that disease outbreaks have wiped out at least 6% of the corals on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. In that region, diseases are more prevalent in areas where corals were damaged by fishing and other human activity because wounded coral provides an entry point for pathogens and bacteria.

In the face of climate change and mounting disease outbreaks, scientists are scrambling for solutions to stave off catastrophe. Assisting the migration of hardier coral species and breeding so-called “super corals” are among the strategies being pursued. It is unknown whether these and other forms of intervention can be used on a wide enough scale to really make a difference.

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As Disease Ravages Coral Reefs, Scientists Scramble for Solutions

Photo, posted November 29, 2012, courtesy of Robert Linsdell via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Produce Stickers

February 21, 2017 By EarthWise

The fruit and vegetables in most grocery stores these days come with little stickers on them with a numerical code identifying the produce for the cashier at the checkout counter. They are quite helpful for the cashier but a real irritation for the customer. Half the time it is difficult to get the labels off the piece of produce and sometimes we don’t notice them at all and end up with a little paper sticker in our salad.

[Read more…] about Produce Stickers