the rising waters threaten the northwest of the country

It is a territory of 150 km² monitored, controlled, but increasingly difficult to defend, as it is located up to 1.60 m below sea level. In Emden, in northwestern Germany , there are fifty years left to make massive investments or abandon these lands, according to hydrologists. A farmer is already encountering problems: if his organic cows get stuck in the barn, it is because on the pastures, water accumulates, without being able to be evacuated.

Water has always been drained, but this will soon be insufficient. “If we use wind turbines to run the pumps, it may still make sense, but it won’t be enough. Realize: we are burning fossil energy somewhere and then pumping water to the sea. you have to ask yourself if this is wise for society as a whole”explains Helge Bormann, a German hydrologist.