SOURCE: Euronews
DATE: November 22, 2018
SNIP: Climate change is playing a major role in the Netherlands sinking more than expected, say researchers.
A team from Delft University of Technology made the conclusion after publishing the first nationwide figures on subsidence.
They used GPS and radar data as well as gravity measurements to produce a special subsidence map.
It shows the western city of Gouda, for instance, is sinking by three millimetres per year, on average.
The university said the recent dry weather was accelerating the subsidence.
“Climate change appears to play a major role in this accelerated subsidence,” it said in a press release.
“The relatively warm summers are dehydrating peat soils, speeding up subsidence. This process is irreversible: the peat oxidises, which also means that more CO2 is released into the atmosphere.”