Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Nature
Science
Award Winning
Climate change
Dikes
Dr Erwann Michel-Kerjan
Dutch
environment
Erwann Michel-Kerjan
flooding
Hans de Moel
hurricane
Jeroen C. J. H. Aerts
Kerry Emanuel
levees
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT
Ning Lin
Princeton
superstorm
Vrije Universiteit
VU Amsterdam
W. J. Wouter Botzen
Friday, 5 December 2014 - 23:42
Share this:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
  • reddit

Protect New York City with Dutch dikes: award-winning research

A proposal to use four flood resilience strategies to protect coastal megacities from the likes of Superstorm Sandy won this year's Lloyd's Science of Rick Prize in the Climate Change category. The strategies included barrier islands and dikes like those developed in the Netherlands following the 1953 floods that left 1,836 people dead in that country, and caused about one billion guilders in damage, roughly equal to 3.6 billion euros in current value. Lead researcher Erwann Michel-Kerjan from the Wharton School of Business worked with three researchers from Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, Jeroen C. J. H. Aerts, W. J. Wouter Botzen and Hans de Moel, as well as Kerry Emanuel from MIT and Princeton University's Ning Lin. Dr. Michel-Kerjan has classified their research paper as a call to action. According to the award winner, the financial implications of implementing such structures were also considered by his paper. "As we discussed in the Science paper, it can take ten or 15 years (from design to construction) to build the necessary protective infrastructure. This is why several of the strategies we evaluated for New York City, which will be cost-effective under future climate, should be started now," said Dr. Michel-Kerjan. The Dutch set the standard for levee construction by re-evaluating their entire system in several key ways, and the Dutch dikes are considered amongst the safest levee systems in the world.

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • The Netherlands hammered 4-0 by France in Euro 2024 qualifier
  • Rutte: EU leaders close to an agreement on extra €3.5 billion for Ukraine weapons
  • Some cancellations at Eindhoven Airport due to climate protest
  • Police identify woman found dead in forest near Dutch palace; Crime suspected
  • Central bank president lashes out at Dutch Cabinet over deficit levels
  • Dutch MP given suspended jail sentence, community service for unlicensed driving

Top stories

  • Deliveroo couriers are salaried employees, not freelancers, Supreme Court rules
  • 7-year-old girl killed in accident with Utrecht city bus; Boy, 5, seriously hurt
  • Amsterdam public transport to be scaled down from this summer: report
  • Households' disposable income grew 2% last year, despite inflation
  • Most NL residents want to scrap interest on student loans
  • Strike: No international trains to & from Germany on Monday; Some night trains cancelled

© 2012-2023, NL Times, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Privacy
  • Contact
  • Partner content