The 'flood.firetree.net" link, My Flood Maps as you call them, is really horribly inaccurate. It uses ground-level measurements as its source for 'being under sea-level at x m SLR' which is just wrong. I live in the Netherlands. We have waterways, and as you know, we have dikes and sluizen, waterkeringen. And we have dedicated underwater-areas for when levels go beyond manageable. But that is not what that map shows, it makes it seem most of NW of NL would be drowned as soon as SLR goes to +1m. No it will not. In fact, most of NL is capable of handling +5m perfectly fine. In fact, this already occurs at certain rare storm strengths from the NW. Anyway, just telling you this, because it annoys me to no end that we constantly see this map being used as a source for a narrative that doesn't jive with reality.
Thank you so much for this, Carlos. Yes - I was starting to suspect it was way off, after later reading some detailed accounts of the effect of predicted sea level change on the Netherlands and what the current plan is. So this flood map needs correcting. I've made a note to come back and do a bit more research to get my facts straight, and then make that correction on this article. In the meantime I'll put a disclaimer that the flood.firetree.net map is inaccurate.
I've found Doggerland fascinating figure a long time now. Have you read the Stephen Baxter historical fiction series set there? It starts with Stone Summer I believe.
I haven't! But I have the series in a dusty corner of my Kindle. If I'd known they were about this topic, I'd have pushed them to the topic of my reading queue. I'll do that. Thank you. :)
Great article as always. There's one subtle but important error in the numbers re energy consumption. The article you refer to relates to global *electricity* use, which is only a fraction of total energy consumption.
In 2020 wind and solar did provide >10% of electricity worldwide, but only a bit over 3% of total energy (source: Our World In Data). Fossil fuels (~80% of global energy) will be a mainstay of the global economy for many years to come, irrespective of how many windfarms we build and however much we might wish otherwise.
This was a very interesting read. I am curious about the choice to mix units -- 25 meter waves, 840 cubic miles -- instead of consistently using metric throughout (840 cubic miles as 3500 teraliters).
I think the simple answer is - because I'm British! We have a tendency to mix & muddle between imperial and metric (in everyday use I think with metres and miles, which is...ridiculous). On the European continent, folk are generally more sensible and logical with their units. But not so much here.
Wow, Mike what a delightful read! It is so difficult to wrap one's head around the magnitude of these mega-floods but you managed to make it tangible. more than that you made the lives of Doggerland tangible. Love it.
Has anyone connected this to the flood myths? I forget if this is the region we think the Yamnaya were in and also forget whether it’s plausible that the flood stories started there.
Absolutely astonishing stuff here! Thanks so much. Because the elements have devoured any accounting left by civilizations so far in the past, unless they're monolithic rocks or tools and debris found on the sea bottom, I guess we'll never really know. Though the striving towards determining more is admirable. Thanks for an interesting article.
The 'flood.firetree.net" link, My Flood Maps as you call them, is really horribly inaccurate. It uses ground-level measurements as its source for 'being under sea-level at x m SLR' which is just wrong. I live in the Netherlands. We have waterways, and as you know, we have dikes and sluizen, waterkeringen. And we have dedicated underwater-areas for when levels go beyond manageable. But that is not what that map shows, it makes it seem most of NW of NL would be drowned as soon as SLR goes to +1m. No it will not. In fact, most of NL is capable of handling +5m perfectly fine. In fact, this already occurs at certain rare storm strengths from the NW. Anyway, just telling you this, because it annoys me to no end that we constantly see this map being used as a source for a narrative that doesn't jive with reality.
Thank you so much for this, Carlos. Yes - I was starting to suspect it was way off, after later reading some detailed accounts of the effect of predicted sea level change on the Netherlands and what the current plan is. So this flood map needs correcting. I've made a note to come back and do a bit more research to get my facts straight, and then make that correction on this article. In the meantime I'll put a disclaimer that the flood.firetree.net map is inaccurate.
Thanks for dropping me a comment about this!
I've found Doggerland fascinating figure a long time now. Have you read the Stephen Baxter historical fiction series set there? It starts with Stone Summer I believe.
I haven't! But I have the series in a dusty corner of my Kindle. If I'd known they were about this topic, I'd have pushed them to the topic of my reading queue. I'll do that. Thank you. :)
What a lovely reminder of how little I know! Thanks for all the graphics.
Great article as always. There's one subtle but important error in the numbers re energy consumption. The article you refer to relates to global *electricity* use, which is only a fraction of total energy consumption.
In 2020 wind and solar did provide >10% of electricity worldwide, but only a bit over 3% of total energy (source: Our World In Data). Fossil fuels (~80% of global energy) will be a mainstay of the global economy for many years to come, irrespective of how many windfarms we build and however much we might wish otherwise.
Ahh, thank you, Neil - that's a clanker of an error on my part, yes. I'll go fix it accordingly. Cheers!
Sadly, you are right
This was a very interesting read. I am curious about the choice to mix units -- 25 meter waves, 840 cubic miles -- instead of consistently using metric throughout (840 cubic miles as 3500 teraliters).
I think the simple answer is - because I'm British! We have a tendency to mix & muddle between imperial and metric (in everyday use I think with metres and miles, which is...ridiculous). On the European continent, folk are generally more sensible and logical with their units. But not so much here.
I've written a bit about all this in a previous newsletter: https://everythingisamazing.substack.com/p/imperial-vs-metric
But this isn't me trying to excuse myself, or Britain. Because in this matter, we're idiots. 😁 Sorry.
I think I shouldn’t have read this right before bed! Scary stuff!
I admit it: I made it all up. You can sleep now.
*gets ready to retract statement the following morning*
Lol :)
Wow, Mike what a delightful read! It is so difficult to wrap one's head around the magnitude of these mega-floods but you managed to make it tangible. more than that you made the lives of Doggerland tangible. Love it.
Marvelous. I must travel again this year!
Riveting! I hope the wind farm developers can work with the archaeologists, sharing data and any finds, for the benefit of all.
Fascinating story!
This is AMAZING, Mike!!
It is one hell of a thing! I knew a bit about Doggerland going into the research, but the rest (and the tsunami)? Jaw-dropping....
Has anyone connected this to the flood myths? I forget if this is the region we think the Yamnaya were in and also forget whether it’s plausible that the flood stories started there.
Absolutely astonishing stuff here! Thanks so much. Because the elements have devoured any accounting left by civilizations so far in the past, unless they're monolithic rocks or tools and debris found on the sea bottom, I guess we'll never really know. Though the striving towards determining more is admirable. Thanks for an interesting article.
I’m not sure how I ended up here a couple of years late but WOW! What a piece. My brain just got bigger.
EPIC!