While Amsterdam’s location gave it lots of advantages in trade and growth, it also meant that Dutch people had to constantly fight to keep their land above water. Storm surges and floods were extremely common, and entire areas of land were lost to floods over the years. This is particularly concerning with global warming, as ocean levels are expected to continue to rise and therefore make the situation even more challenging. In order to deal with this, the Dutch are constantly coming up with new methods of flood control. In fact, they are now world leaders in water management because of the challenges they have faced over the course of their history.
One of the most famous ways that the Dutch adapted to their environment was by building the canal system in Amsterdam. In order to more effectively transport goods throughout the city during the Golden Age, they created rings of canals around the city center. The canals are an important part of Amsterdam today. Wherever you are in the city, you’ll walk over bridges and see boats rowing underneath you! Canal tours on boats are very popular for tourists. Many people even live in houseboats that are just like regular apartments but float on the canals! Another way the Dutch have adapted to their environment is by developing new methods for building houses on swampy soil. In fact, many of the houses in Amsterdam are built on stilts underneath the ground to keep them from sinking into the ground. However, over the years some of these stilts have decomposed and sunk. This has caused many old houses to lean one way or the other.
