Herman, 11 months ago

@Ruth_Mottram Now try to get your head around a Dutch government spending 30 billion Euro’s each single year on #fossilefuel subsidies. Each single year. #bigoil #ClimateCrisis #suicide

markmccaughrean, 11 months ago

@Ruth_Mottram According to the very precise & detailed elevation map of NL that the government publishes, I know that our back garden is 38cm above sea-level. That makes our town a posh & desirable place, apparently 🙂

Ruth_Mottram, 11 months ago

@markmccaughrean well. That must be a relief 😉( she says from the relative safety of about 9m above current sea level...)

markmccaughrean, 11 months ago

@Ruth_Mottram My garden shed, however, is slightly sunk. I walk down two steps & am below sea level. We like living on the edge here in NL.

(As for that egregious pun, Ruth, all I can say is that you’re lucky I’m posting via METATEXT, where I can’t get to GIFs easily 🤪)

Ruth_Mottram, 11 months ago

@markmccaughrean heh, I however.... 🤣

Gif of Austin powers saying " I like to live dangerously "

markmccaughrean, 11 months ago

@Ruth_Mottram Night night …

video/mp4

veronica, 11 months ago

@Ruth_Mottram @markmccaughrean My building's foundation is at just over 38 m above sea level, so it's practically the Highlands 😄

The numbers are still visible on the curb where they were written by the surveyors when they developed this area.

bumblebeedc, 11 months ago

@markmccaughrean @Ruth_Mottram lucky you, I just realised we're moving to a location 1.25m below sea level 🫣😅

markmccaughrean, 11 months ago

@Ruth_Mottram @bumblebeedc Luxury! 🙂

coprolite9000, 11 months ago

@markmccaughrean @Ruth_Mottram
For some reason, elevation maps for Seattle don't seem to be anywhere near as marvellously precise.

Anyhow, hello from approximately 125m altitude!

(And less than 3km from the sea...)

EricFielding, 11 months ago

@markmccaughrean @Ruth_Mottram What year sea level do they use for their datum? If it is 50 years old, then you should be much closer to sea level now.

markmccaughrean, 11 months ago

@Ruth_Mottram @EricFielding The Netherlands has an obvious vested interest in being much more up to date than that. The latest version, AHN4, of the Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederlands was made in 2021, so presumably referenced to the mean sea level then. It’s a fantastically detailed elevation map for the whole country: https://www.ahn.nl/hoogtegegevens

EricFielding, 11 months ago

@markmccaughrean @Ruth_Mottram I used Google Translate on the web pages since I don't know Dutch. It seems that elevations in NL are relative to a land reference point in Amsterdam, Normaal Amsterdams Peil (NAP), which means elevations won't change when sea level changes. NAP is close to average sea level but defined on land. https://www.rijkswaterstaat.nl/zakelijk/open-data/normaal-amsterdams-peil

markmccaughrean, 11 months ago

@EricFielding @Ruth_Mottram Interesting. I sent an email to the ANH folk today asking that question, but no reply as yet.

I was aware of the NAP, however, as I took a bike ride a couple of years ago to visit the point in NL that's officially the lowest point, 6.76 metres below the NAP. It's entirely unremarkable, in a car park of a factory in the countryside.

https://nwegeo.com/lowest-point-of-the-netherlands/