New climate scenario worries researchers: colder Netherlands
Sybren Drijfhout.
From one of our correspondents.
Not warmer, but perhaps a colder Netherlands. That is a new scenario that the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management is quietly investigating, writes the NOS. A special working group, with experts from TU Delft, knowledge centre Deltares and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), is now mapping out the consequences of a cooler climate in the Netherlands.
'With today's knowledge, the most likely scenario is still that it will get warmer. However, this is a new insight that we cannot ignore', says Delta Programme Commissioner Co Verdaas, who is leading the working group.
An insight with far-reaching consequences. Because the safety of the water country of the Netherlands is at stake, the Delta Programme Commissioner is leading the working group.
'With the latest climate models, we suddenly see that the chance is really a lot greater.'
Greenhouse gas emissions are warming the earth and this also means higher temperatures for the Netherlands. That has been the message of climate scientists for decades. But there is now also a scenario in which it could actually get colder in the coming decades. This has everything to do with changes in the Atlantic Gulf Stream.
According to the NOS, this is how it works: the Atlantic Gulf Stream is part of a global system of ocean currents that play an important role in influencing the temperature on land. That system, called the Atlantic Meridionale Overturning Circulation (AMOC), transports warm water from the oceans around the equator to northwestern Europe like a conveyor belt. That is why, for example, the Netherlands has a much milder climate than Canada, which is located at the same latitude.
https://www.climategate.nl/2025/04/nieuw-klimaatscenario-baart-onderzoekers-zorgen-juist-kouder-nederland/
