The Dutch have mastered water for a millennium. Could their new approach save New Orleans?


As New Orleans and the Louisiana coast become increasingly vulnerable to rising sea levels, the city is looking to the example of the Netherlands in using nature as a tool in coastal preservation. In the Netherlands, the Maeslant storm surge barrier was built 23 years ago with the ability to block out waters to prevent flooding. In recent years, however, the Dutch have adapted: using green roofs, adding trees as an extra defense in front of levees, and looking to nature more and more to protect cities in the age of climate change.

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