The city that made Gouda renowned sinking

As a result of increasing sea levels, the city of Gouda, which is where the city gets its name, is struggling to come to terms with a complicated future.

“In 100 years I wouldn’t expect much Gouda cheese to be produced,” according to a specialist.

Gouda cheese faces a tough adversary in the form of climate change, which is already posing a risk of flooding one of the most iconic locations associated with the cheese. It may sound unusual, but it can all be explained by a combination of history, architecture, increasing sea levels, and the intricate panorama that lies ahead for Gouda, the city in South Holland (Zuid-Holland) from which it receives its name. Gouda is the name of the city.

A city steeped in cheese. In addition to its significant heritage, which includes the Gothic town hall and the Sint Janskerk church, Gouda is also known for its ceramics, which are highly regarded by specialists. Gouda has a long and illustrious past. If there is one thing that this small city in South Holland is known for, it is another of its legacies, in this case culinary: Gouda cheese. The name of this cheese comes from the town market, which dates back to the 14th century and also happens to be the place where large, shiny wheels of cheese are still sold every Thursday between the months of April and August.

Over the course of several centuries, Gouda cheese gained such widespread popularity that its production extended to the province of North Holland as well as other regions of the Netherlands. Despite this, the city of Gouda and its market continue to serve as gold standards in the industry. Gouda Holland and Noord-Hollandse Gouda are the two types that are protected by the European Union. The latter variety is somewhat less salty and is produced with milk that comes from Noord-Holland.

This is not only business but also history. The flavor, history, and tradition of Gouda cheese are not the only things that set it apart from other cheeses. It’s also a massively important business. According to a report published by Zuivel NL, the dairy industry in the Netherlands handled around 14.1 billion kilograms of milk in 2022. Of this total, slightly more than half was utilized for the production of cheese. Gouda accounted for close to sixty percent of the total production.

According to predictions provided by Statista, Gouda’s exports reached 1.26 billion euros in 2021, which is significantly higher than Edam’s (319 million euros) export, for instance. Although it is in demand in the rest of Europe and even in more distant locations like Japan and South Korea, its major markets are Germany and Belgium. However, it is also in demand in other parts of Europe.

Although its production spread to North Holland and the rest of the Netherlands as it gained popularity, the city of Gouda and the area surrounding it continue to serve as a reference point. The city takes its name from the city, its market that dates back a century is still in operation, and cows graze in the meadows whose milk is used to make cheese, which is still prepared in the traditional manner in the polders of the town.

A city that stands under danger. In spite of the fact that Gouda has a lengthy history of cheesemaking, the market for Gouda remains uncertain about its future. This was stated by the New York Times in an article that was published a few days ago. In the report, the newspaper mentioned that the city of Gouda, which is situated on a peat bog, is gradually sinking. Despite the fact that the risk has been around for quite some time, it has become significantly more severe as a result of the rains and the rise in sea level that are brought about by climate change. This is already a hazard to the river delta in which it is situated.

“It’s a very worrying situation,” Gilles Erkens, a professor at Utrecht University, said in an interview with the New York newspaper. Another expert, Jan Rotmans of Erasmus University Rotterdam, has even conducted projections and come to the conclusion that the Groene Hart, also known as the Green Heart in English, which is the region of the Netherlands in which Gouda is situated, will be negatively impacted by the effects of increasing sea levels.

A challenging years ahead. “I really don’t think there will be a lot of Gouda cheese produced in one hundred years. In the event that the land is submerged in water and the cows are extinct, the cheese will have to originate from the eastern region of the Netherlands, and it will no longer be Gouda, according to Rotmans, who spoke to The New York Times during the event. Experts at Utrecht University who research high tides and rising sea levels are not very optimistic about the future. They warn that Groene Hart “faces dehydration, land subsidence, and biodiversity loss.” The outlook is not very good.

“We have until 2040 or 2050,” says Michael Klijmij-van der Laal, a councillor for the city of Gouda. “This is the timescale open to the city to come up with a plan and identify “new solutions.” “The ones that we have always used are not proof against the future. It is not feasible to pump water, and the cost of doing so is prohibitive.

A total of 22 million dollars are already spent annually by Gouda on various initiatives, including the maintenance, improvement, and replacement of pipelines. In addition, it is anticipated that this sum will continue to increase in the future. However, if there is one number that casts a shadow over the future of the city, it is the estimated three millimeters to two centimeters that the city is sinking by each year, depending on the part of the city center that is being studied. This is the figure that casts the shadow at the center of the city.

In addition to Gouda. The problem can be attributed to a number of different factors, such as the geography of the Netherlands (it is estimated that seven percent of the land has been reclaimed from the sea, and a significant portion of it is at or below water level), the risk of flooding that has prompted the country to develop a complex system of polders, canals, dams, and dikes, and the difficulties that are brought about by climate change. As a matter of fact, the city of Gouda, which is constructed on peat and is covered by a layer of debris, is not the only one in the Netherlands that is confronted with this circumstances.

“Nine million people live and work in an area with sinking land,” Gilles Erkens of Deltares said in an interview with National Geographic. The entire country of the Netherlands is in the process of sinking, including towns such as Amsterdam and Almere, as well as portions of Griesia, Groningen, Ultrecht, Overijssel, Flevoland, and Zeeland. If sea levels continue to rise, the loss of every centimeter of height will make our prospects even more dire.

It was eight years ago when the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) pulled out its calculator and estimated that by the year 2050, the total damage to the country’s buildings and infrastructure caused by subsidence and the cost of restoring foundations could amount to a staggering figure of approximately twenty billion euros.

The city that made Gouda renowned sinking

As a result of increasing sea levels, the city of Gouda, which is where the city gets its name, is struggling to come to terms with a complicated future.

By knl9j

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