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Northern European Enclosure Dam (NEED): Do we really NEED this?

How far you can go to protect your cities and towns from rising sea level? The answer is we can build a dam on sea.

Yes, this is true. "Northern European Enclosure Dam" is an extraordinary effort to protect millions of people from the threat of ever rising sea level due to global warming by enclosing all of the North Sea. Amazing isn’t it?

This is an effort to protect important economic regions of 15 Northern European countries against sea level rise (SLR) due to climate change.

North sea is a part of the Atlantic Ocean in Northern Europe that is encircled by Norway and Denmark in the east, Scotland and England in the west, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France in the south.



 

Key points of the proposed dam

It would be a megaproject that aims to construct two dams of a combined length of 637 km. it stretches between France, the United Kingdom and Norway. The first dam would be 476 km, between Northern Scotland and Western Norway with an average depth of 121 km, and the second would be of length 161 km, between France and Southwestern England with an average depth of 85 km. According to the scientists, this project is considered as the most feasible option to protect the Northern Europe from sea level rise by separating the North and Baltic Seas from Atlantic Ocean.



Need for such project

o   The concept of constructing NEED showcases the extent of protection efforts that are required when mitigation efforts fail to fight against the sea level rise.

o   While NEED may seem an “overwhelming” and “unrealistic” solution. However, NEED could be “potentially favourable” financially and in scale when compared with alternative solutions to limit SLR.

o   According to researchers the solutions to SLR are classified into 3 categories namely, taking no action, protection and managed treat and NEED is categorised into the second category.

o   NEED is anticipated to have the least direct influence on people’s daily lives and can be built at a reasonable cost.

o   Such mega enclosures could potentially be implemented in other regions of the world facing similar problem of SLR such as the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Irish Sea, and the Red Sea.

Project cost

Total cost associated with NEED is estimated at between €250 billion and €550 billion. If construction is spread over a period of 20 year, this will work out to an annual expense of around 0.1% of the GDP of the 15 Northern European countries that would be protected by such a dam.

Negative Impacts

The construction will “heavily impact” marine and terrestrial ecosystems inside and outside the enclosure, will have social and cultural implications, and affect tourism and fisheries.

Presently, all the island nations and coastal countries are facing the treat of sea level rising. Is projects like NEED can be a feasible option to all these countries? I think not, because not all of them are that economically strong to finance such mega projects, so what options they are left with. This we all need to think.

 

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