Climate Change and Closure of Thyborøn Channel

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Abstract

The matter of Thyborøn Channel is the culmination of the coastal engineering in Denmark. Many hundreds of man-years have been spent by engineers and scientists on the planning and evaluation of the complex of problems briefly outlined in the following.

After having been separated for more than 700 years the connection between the North Sea and the Limfjord was established by a storm surge in 1825. The opening drastically changed the salinity and ecology in the fjord. In the first part of the 20th century a fear of flooding of the city of Thyborøn became greater. In 1946 the Danish Parliament passed the so-called Thyborøn Act after which the Thyborøn Channel should be closed by a dam including a ship lock and a sluice for water exchange. Because of lack of money and professional disagreement the works progressed very slowly and in 1972 the act was repealed without finishing the final closure of the channel.

The coasts in the Limfjord are most sensitive to flooding and the climate changes will call for many types of precautions for the rising sea level. The closure of Thyborøn Channel should be understood as an alternative to many local solutions especially in the western part of the fjord. In general, the public conceives the channel as a preservation-worthy piece of nature but the inconvenient truth is that the channel exists only because of human intervention in the nature.

At suggestion of Jørgen Bülow Beck and the author the matter was reopened in 2005 because of the discussion of the consequences of the global warming and the rising sea level.
Original languageEnglish
Publication date2007
Number of pages8
Publication statusPublished - 2007
EventSeminar on Coastal Zone Management - Blåvand, Denmark
Duration: 11 Sept 200713 Sept 2007

Conference

ConferenceSeminar on Coastal Zone Management
Country/TerritoryDenmark
CityBlåvand
Period11/09/200713/09/2007

Keywords

  • Thyborøn Channel
  • Denmark
  • Coastal engineering
  • Limfjord
  • North Sea

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