Voices of Change: Isamu from Amsterdam, Netherlands
"My little cousins just a decade younger have barely seen snow"
What is your name and where are you from?
I’m Isamu, and my hometown is in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
How much do you hear about climate change?
Having grown up in Amsterdam, I experienced drastic impacts of climate change affecting my daily life. Shifts in seasons and weather are noticeable, even to me at just 24 years old. So, it was evident firsthand that the climate change is real, and processing the information from news and other sources in regard to climate change was easy for me.
What is the climate over there?
We Dutch are accustomed to occasional flooding. But while our ingenious systems of dams and dikes once kept us relatively safe, record flooding can now overwhelm even our defenses. In 2021, heavy rainfall swelled the Maas and Rhine rivers, unleashing devastating floods in Limburg province. Entire villages were swallowed for weeks.
Do you see any changes in the climate over the past few years?
While Amsterdam was spared from those floods, we also sit just above sea level. I worry that each year coastal storms will grow fiercer and more frequent as warming oceans drive rising seas and rainfall. Winters seem warmer now than the snow-filled days I reminisced about as a child. I used to eagerly await the first frost; now it often doesn’t come until late December. My little cousins just a decade younger have barely seen snow. The canals no longer freeze over for ice skating like when my parents were young. Summers bring oppressive heat waves that seem longer each year. Elderly people stay indoors to avoid the extreme heat outdoors. Even our nighttime lows don't provide relief. My family spends more on air conditioning now, something we never needed before in temperate Amsterdam.
What does your family think about climate change?
The discussions over climate change in my family are rare but that does not mean that we have no awareness about it. We are aware and we are doing our best to cope up with it.
What is your opinion on climate change? What is the main cause and what could be the solution?
What we’re experiencing seems to be the beginning of climate change in the Netherlands. But we are optimistic people and will always be finding ways to adapt. From coastal reinforcements to heat-resilient crops, innovations emerge to face each new challenge. We proudly share our solutions globally. This is not a fight any one nation can win alone. Yet if we tackle rising emissions in solidarity worldwide, I know the Netherlands will continue to shine as a beacon of resilience and progress through stormy seas ahead.
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