Global Warming Could Pose a Problem Here

Did you know that...
A quarter of the Netherlands is below sea level and Amsterdam is actually 13 feet below?

At the beginning of it all, villages and farmhouses were built on man-made hills called terps. Later, these were connected by dykes or canals. As the ground level dropped, the canals grew and merged into an integrated system. By the 13th century, windmills had come into use in order to pump water out of areas below sea level.

Amsterdam itself is built entirely on piles, huge stakes driven into the ground because the ground is so saturated. Central station has 6000 of them keeping it up.