Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research

Sea level change

The Dutch are known for their fight against the rising tide. The Delta Works that  protects the province of Zeeland from flooding is one of the most famous coastal defense systems in the world. Sea-level change as a result of climate change will not only impact the low-lying Netherlands, but coastal communities and ecosystems all around the world. There  are many processes that contribute to sea-level change, on a wide range of spatial  and  temporal scales. As each process has a distinct regional pattern, sea-level  change is not the same everywhere. The impact and interaction of large scale sea-level change on physical, ecological and sociological processes at the coast are poorly understood. We want to understand what determines sea-level change, both  offshore and close to the coast, to help prepare vulnerable coastal regions for  future changes.