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> much of the Netherlands is lower than sea level

interesting fact, actually from this site http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/dutch-sea.htm it said "Half of the country lies below 1 meter above sea level, with an eighth of the country lying below sea level."

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Have just caught up with a friend who was employed to extract gas onshore in Holland. The "10s of centimetres" of subsidence they caused was not popular.

It wasn't the subsidence, it was the earthquakes that made the gas extraction unpopular.

More specifically, the damage these cause in a country that has no natural earthquakes to speak of (so houses aren't build for that kind of damage), and the political denial about this issue (because natural resources equal convenient state income).

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