For thousands of years, Indigenous communities along the Mississippi River and its tributaries built earthen mounds. Some complex constructions rose 8 stories high. These mounds were built for spiritual and religious reasons and also used as a refuge from floods.
Thousands of miles away, on a string of tiny islands off Germany’s North Sea coast, people still live on raised earthen mounds, watching the sea wash over the land around them as the frequent floodwaters rise. Reporter Tamsin Walker takes us to the Hallig Islands, where flooding is part of the rhythm of life, and where residents are finding ways to adapt as sea levels rise. But as the water climbs, so do the costs of staying.
This episode was produced in collaboration with the DW podcast, Living Planet, an award-winning podcast based in Germany that brings you environmental stories from around the world.
To read more about Indigenous earthen mounds in the Mississippi River Valley, check out this essay by Sea Change friend and contributor, Boyce Upholt.
This episode was hosted by Executive Producer Carlyle Calhoun. Reporting by Tamsin Walker, a journalist with the DW podcast, Living Planet. Editing help from Johanna Zorn. Sound design by Laine Kaplan-Levenson, and our theme music is by Jon Batiste.
SeaChange is a WWNO and WRKF production. We're a part of the NPR Podcast Network and distributed by PRX. SeaChange is made possible with major support from the Gulf Research Program of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
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TRANSCRIPT
In Louisiana, we talk a lot about protection from water. We've built an almost two hundred mile ring around New Orleans and the surrounding areas designed to hold back water. It's a network of flood walls, flood gates, and primarily raised land, or levees.
It's one of the most sophisticated protection systems in the world, and yet we still wonder, are the levees strong enough? Are they high enough?
But living with the threat of floods in this region is nothing new. Within a year of French colonists founding New Orleans, the city flooded.
The response? Build a levee… that word, by the way, comes from French, meaning to lift. But while the term we use may be French, the European colonizers certainly did not invent piling up dirt to stay above the water. People have been doing that for thousands of years. It's one of humanity's oldest feats of civil engineering.
Rozina Philippe, an elder from the Atakapa-Ishak/Chawasha tribe and lifelong resident of coastal Louisiana, says her tribe has been building earthen mounds for generations
Rosina: We're mounds builders, so when the river would flood, we would seek refuge onto the mounds. And when they would recede, then we're left, you know, with whatever the river left for us, whether it changes, it happened, we adapted, we, uh, adjusted, we mimic the things that survived, and we're still here.
There were tens of thousands of mound sites built by indigenous people throughout North America, though their greatest concentration was along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. They were built for spiritual and religious reasons, and also used as a refuge from floods.
So that's the shortest possible version of the story here. But ancient mounds and levees are found throughout the world. There are ancient levees found along the Nile River in Egypt, ancient mounds spread across modern-day Iraq and across the Netherlands.
These days, though, nowhere are mounds built to escape floods as essential to daily life as on a string of islands off Germany's coast.
I'm Carlyle Calhoun, and you're listening to Sea Change. Coming up, we travel to the beautiful Hallig Islands in northern Germany to discover how a cherished way of life continues despite, or maybe because of, its precarious relationship with the sea.
BREAK
That's the sound of geese flying above Hooge Island, one in a string of 10 Hallig Islands located just off Germany's northern coast, near its border with Denmark.
I had never heard of the Hallig Islands until a couple months ago when Living Planet, an environmental podcast based in Germany, reached out to see if we’d like to collaborate on a story.
Tamsin Walker is a journalist based in Berlin. So Tamsin, you recently spent time on Hooge. Tell us what it's like to visit.
Tamsin: Okay. Well, I got there, I arrived by ferry from another island, just a little bit, a, a bigger island not very far away.
This island is called Pellworm, like Pellworm maybe. And the day that I went, it was this gorgeous, beautiful day, calm water, and it was so lovely going over there. You're going on this ferry, a small ferry, and it's all these shades of blue and gray and green.
And then periodically just you see these tiny little patches of land rising out of the surface of the sea. Um, and I was going to one of them. One of those was Hallig Hooge. And from a distance, it's actually kind of hard to imagine how much might be going on, on these little land masses 'cause they look so small.
But once you get there, it's a different story. And so you get off the ferry, and then immediately when I got off, there's a place to rent a bicycle, so I did. I rented a bicycle. And I spent a glorious day kind of riding around, talking to people about life on their Hallig
Carlyle: The life of a reporter. That sounds, that sounds beautiful.
Tamsin: Yeah.
Carlyle: So tell me more about these mounds. Is the entire island a mound? Or describe a little bit more about the landscape
Tamsin: Okay. So no, the entire island is not a mound. So I'll just start by saying there are, on this particular Hallig, and as you said, there are 10 of them all together, there are 100 people that live there, and it's the second largest of the Hallig islands.
And everybody who lives there lives on what is called a warft. A warft could be translated to something like dwelling mounds. And they're these, uh, human-made kind of artificial elevations, which are designed to keep people safe from the waves.
And I'm super fascinated by the history of the place, how the, the larger islands nearby and the Hallig islands along the stretch of the coastline there were formed over a really, obviously a very long period of time, partly by kind of natural dynamic processes, but, but also by some incredibly violent storms that tore sections of the land apart and created these places, places such as Hallig Hooge.
And that's, I'm just saying that 'cause it's kind of important, uh, to know that, that these things happened hundreds of years ago. It's important for our conversation as we go on.
Carlyle: So the sea, literally shaped these places, and the mounds, how long have they been there?
Tamsin: Okay. So there are 10 of these mounds altogether, right? And just to give you a bit of a visual, they all look very, very different to one another. I was told by the mayor of, uh, Hallig Hooge, his name is Michael Kliesch, that they were first built around the year 1000. I mean, just imagine that.
Carlyle: Wow
Tamsin: And because the islands are only just above sea level, so, when there is a storm surge, which there are, water spills from the sea over onto the land, and anything that's not sufficiently elevated is completely submerged in the waves. it was very interesting to actually to listen to him talk about how these mounds were formed, 'cause he was saying like how incredible it is that the, the first settlers from around that time, 1,000 years ago, that they realized straight away that they would not be able to survive on flat ground, and so they built these elevations.
Michael Clip
GERMAN: Wie groß, weiß ich natürlich nicht. Manchmal finde ich es unvorstellbar, äh, wie die Menschen damals ja mit irgendeinem Spaten oder spatenähnlichen Gerät, mit sicherlich irgendeiner Schubkarre dann Hügel erstellt haben, Warften also gebaut haben. Denn wenn ich sehe heute, mit welchem großen Maschineneinsatz und mit Personaleinsatz, wie viel Monate das dauert, nur um eine Erhöhung am Rand durchzuführen, dann kann ich mir das kaum vorstellen, wie Menschen das damals gemacht haben.
(DIRECT ENGLISH TRANSLATION: Of course, I don't know exactly how big they were. Sometimes I find it hard to imagine how people back then—using just a spade or a similar tool and, presumably, some kind of wheelbarrow—managed to create these mounds, these Warften. When I see the massive machinery and manpower required today—and the months it takes—just to raise the ground level slightly in one area, I can hardly picture how people accomplished that in the past.)
Tamsin: And, and he was saying he didn't really know how big they would've been back then, and also he was just a little bit mesmerized himself as saying how hard he found it to imagine that people back then would have, have done this, built these just using, uh, he said a spade or spade-like tools and wheelbarrows.
And 'cause he was making the comparison to that old style of building as compared to how they do it today, which is like this feat of incredible modern machinery and manpower and engineering.
Carlyle: It's amazing to imagine. And so people's lives are really dependent on these dwelling mounds, right? So there are 10 of these dwelling mounds on Hooge, the island you visited. Are there normal uh, streets? Like what, tell us more about what life is like on these mounds
Tamsin: yeah, so the 10 mounds they're all a little bit different, right? For a start, they're different sizes. Um, and the way they look depends on what they have on them. So the main one perhaps, it's, uh, a commercial mound.
It's called the Hansawart, and it has a supermarket on it, and it has more, a couple of more sort of touristy shops. And then there's also, uh, a little exhibition center where they ha- they have an exhibition about the Wadden Sea, which is where the Hallig islands are situated And then there's also a little cinema even on this one, which is, it, it is not kind of showing the latest films, but it shows a film on, on a loop of what it actually looks like on the Hallig Islands when the sea comes in.
And then there is, there's another mound where there's a church and there's a graveyard, and then there are others. There's another one where there are some restaurants. I think there's restaurants on a couple of them, or cafes, and then the others are residential, so it's people's homes, right?
And I think of it as sort of like little hamlets on top of these little hills. But they're quite big, And some of them do have roads. On the Hanswarft there are some little, little roads. There are driveways going up. There are different ways to get on top of it because people drive their cars up there Obviously they have to. And they have their gardens, and they just have their little place to live.
Carlyle: I’m imagining you riding your bike around the island. Are they steep enough that you're walking your bike up the hill?
Tamsin: Yeah. I mean, not to, you know, give you the impression that I've got jelly legs or anything that I can't cycle up to the top of the Warft. No, you can cycle up to the top. They're not sort of... It's not like going up Mount Everest...but yeah, they're quite steep. I would say they are quite steep.
Carlyle: So, okay, tell us more about the flooding side of this story. I've read this is kind of a common occurrence, right? So tell us more about how people view flooding. Do they feel like they're in a constant battle with water?
Tamsin: I actually had the feeling that people are pretty adapted to that way of life. I mean, maybe I-- maybe before I go int-into that, I should clarify that I didn't witness a storm surge event the day I was there. Like I said, it was ve-very peaceful, calm, gorgeous weather.
But, you know, you can see they have these huge skies, and they're really kind of brooding, fast-moving skies. And you can see that things can change quickly. And- Before I went there, I was on this other island of Pellworm, and I had the opportunity to go out into the mudflats off the Wadden Sea with, um, a native Pellwormer who spends half his time there and half his time in Hamburg, the German city of Hamburg, called Dirk Jensen, and he gives tours over the mudflats, including walking tours to Hallig Hooge.
So, on the particular day that I met him, we wouldn't have been able to get that far because when we met, the tide was definitely on its way in. But it gave me a really good idea of how quickly the water moves because when we left the shore, the seabed was completely exposed, and within a couple of minutes, the tide had rushed in and completely covered our footsteps. And in fact, it had gone in that time from us being ankle-deep in water to knee-deep.
So, back to your question, I really don't get the sense that people there see themselves as doing battle with the water. What they say is that they live with nature.
Like, that's something that people said, uh, very clearly, and they obviously do live with nature in close proximity. And one of the people I spoke to is called Sandra Wendt. She's a local business owner who was born on Hallig Hooge, and she runs a shop on the main dwelling mound, the Hanswarft that I mentioned before.
And like very many other people on the island, she also rents out an apartment in her home for guests. And in fact, she was one of the people who told me just how much she loves living so closely with nature.
SANDRA:
Also ich liebe, ähm, die Gezeiten. Und da ist nicht nur Ebbe und Flut gemeint, was wir alle kennen, sondern auch die Gezeiten des Mondes, die Gezeiten der, der Jahreszeiten, was sich da immer so ständig ändert.
DIRECT ENGLISH TRANSLATION: Well, I love, um, the tides. And that doesn't just mean the ebb and flow we’re all familiar with, but also the tides of the moon, the tides of the—of the seasons—the things that are constantly changing.
Tamsin: So she says she loves the tides of the moon, she loves the tides of the seasons, and just the way that everything is constantly changing. And she also really enjoys watching how migratory birds stop off here for a little while, or sometimes for a longer while, before they move on again.
Carlyle: Well, while it does sound extreme, it also sounds like a beautiful way to live, kind of in touch with nature and so aware of the changing seasons, and that's something with the floods, right? Like, on Hooga, the island you visited, the floods are mostly in the wintertime, right? So can you describe these very different seasons?
Tamsin: you're right, it, the floods on Hooge and this, it differs in that respect to some of the other Hallig islands. In Hooge, the floods only tend to come in the wintertime because the island has a very low dike. It's the only one of the Hallig islands that has a dike – has what is called a summer dike to prevent these storm surges from coming during the summer. So what that means is that they really, the seasons or the summer and the winter season are quite different experiences for people on Hallig Hooge.
SANDRA:
Das ist eigentlich das, was ich mag, dieses Sommer, Winter, viele Gäste, wenig Gäste und, ähm, unglaublich sehr, unglaublich viel, ähm, Arbeit im Sommer und, ähm, dafür aber auch die absolute Ruhe im Winter. Und das liebe ich einfach, dass man immer dieses, dieses Gegenwärtige hat.
DIRECT ENGLISH TRANSLATION: That’s actually what I like—the summer and winter, the times with many guests and times with few, the incredible amount of work in the summer, and then, in return, the absolute peace and quiet of winter. I just love that—always having that sense of the present moment.
Tamsin: And so Sandra, she said that she, she really, um, loves both. She, she likes it all, like she likes it in summertime when there are lots of guests and a lot of work. But what, but then what she describes about the absolute peace and quiet of winter, I had the feeling that she, she had a real soft spot for that.
SANDRA
And there's another person that I spoke to, her name is Katja Just, and she actually used to be the mayor of Hallig Hooge, Katja. And she's originally from Bavaria, from a very landlocked part of southern Germany, and she moved there, um, more than 25 years ago to the Hallig, and she's actually written three books about it as well.
KATJA:
Die Ruhe nach dem Sturm ist auch was sehr Besonderes. Also für mich heißt das dann auch wirklich runterfahren.
DIRECT ENGLISH TRANSLATION: The calm after the storm is something very special, too. For me, it really means winding down.
TAMSIN: And she also talks about the calm after the storm.
Es kann niemand unangemeldet kommen, man kann aber auch nicht weg und das entschleunigt auch. Und das kann ich sehr genießen.
DIRECT ENGLISH TRANSLATION: No one can drop by unannounced, but you can't leave either—and that slows things down. That is something I can really enjoy.
TAMSIN: about the time when you're on, in your house, on your dwelling mound, and nobody can come and kind of drag you away from whatever peaceful endeavor you might be engaged in or whatever it is that you might be doing. And that's also something that she highlighted as being very enjoyable.
Carlyle: Okay, so these floods happen mostly in the wintertime. So a lot of the people, Do they know they're coming, and how do they prepare?
TAMSIN: Yeah, they do know they're coming. I was told that they get very reliable data, so they're well informed. Um, and Sandra said it's not only that they know that it's coming, but they also, to some degree, they work, can work out how high it's likely to be, how high the water's likely to be. And she says that they're also really experienced in preparing for high waters 'cause they've been doing it since they were kids, right? So it's like second nature to them.
And they prepare by... They have to basically bring everything that is on the lower lying parts of the Hallig, so everything that's not on the dwelling mounds and that could be swept away in a storm, and really kind of batten down the hatches. So like Sandra told me, for example, she was quite candid. She said, you know, if the storm comes during the day, that it's easier to manage than when it's dark. And she-- 'cause she said after nightfall, she does find it hard to sleep. and so maybe she get together with other people, or she says she might just sit in her kitchen and listen and wait.
SANDRA:
Wenn man selber Hausbesitzer ist, ist es so, dass man wirklich nachts mit einem offenen Ohr da liegt oder einfach auch in der Küche sitzt und, äh, hört, je nachdem.
DIRECT ENGLISH TRANSLATION: When you’re a homeowner, you lie there at night with your ears pricked, or you just sit in the kitchen listening—depending on the situation.
Tamsin: And then she said something really interesting that she said she's not so afraid of the water, but more of the wind because she is afraid that it's gonna tear something off the roof or from her house because they're dealing with really strong winds. And also she said, like, the stronger the wind, the higher the waves.
SANDRA:
Und gibt ja kein Land unter, wo fast eigentlich keine Wellen sind oder es ist einfach windstill. Und der Wasserstand hat eine bestimmte Höhe und wenn die schon sehr kritisch ist und noch viel Wind ist, dann entwickeln sich höhere Wellen, die eben auch die, die Warften noch höher klettern, ne.
DIRECT ENGLISH TRANSLATION: Um, and regarding how high the water is predicted to rise—the flooding—I’m not all that afraid of the water itself, but rather of the wind tearing something off the roof; the winds are really strong, after all, and the more wind we have, the higher the waves get.
Tamsin: And if the water level has already reached a critical height in terms of how high it's come up the sides of the dwelling mound, but there's a very strong wind, then it can whip the waves into even more of a frenzy, so they climb further up the dwelling mound and can even spill over the embankment
Carlyle: Oh, wow. So they can look out from their houses and they can just, they can see just a sea of water?
Tamsin: And you know, people do stay there. She has a holiday apartment in her house and many people, residents have holiday accommodations. And so guests are there when there are these storm surges.
And that was really interesting also because she talks about the responsibility that you have for your guests and how you have to make them aware of the fact that they are not to leave the dwelling mound because it's very, very dangerous to do so. And when the water comes, you're on your dwelling mound and maybe with your little hamlet with, with other people.
Um, and then, yeah, the other things that are visible are the other dwelling mounds, but the land that connects them is gone. I mean, it's all profoundly underwater at that stage. And then it takes–I was told like a day and a half to two days for the water then to recede.
Carlyle: I was just imagining the Airbnb reviews.
Tamsin: Yeah.
Carlyle: It sounds like a lot of people make a living renting out rooms in their homes for tourists. Is that kind of the main way of making a living here?
Tamsin: Well, traditionally the Hallig islands were, um, farming islands, and there is still farming that goes on there, but obviously it's quite difficult to farm if you've got water, you know, coming in at all times of the year.
So the summer dikes mean that the island of Hooge can be used for grazing animals. So basically, they partner up with a farmer on the mainland who wants to bring their livestock to the Hallig, and then they graze there, I think, from April, May to September. And, they keep the grass down on the Hallig, which is important as well. And then they go back again, and so that's one source of income.
Carlyle: Another part of the rhythm of the season yeah, so as you're talking about this, talking about the mounds and, and the summer dike and every year they're dealing with the impacts of floods. It sounds like it would be kind of expensive, all this infrastructure needed. So who's paying for all of that?
Tamsin: So I think that there are two, that's it-- um, there are two parts maybe to the, to this response.
And the first thing to know perhaps is that there is this ongoing work to raise the height of the dwelling mounds, right? And this is partly yes, because of, um, sea level rise, but actually it's been going on for quite some years anyway. Um, and it, it doesn't mean literally like picking up the dwelling mounds and, you know, adding a couple of meters underneath.
Not at all, no. But it's like incredible construction and, and again, engineering expertise that they make these dwelling mounds higher, like from the outside, so that effectively you, you're walking up or you're driving up quite a long slope. And then when you get to the top, you go over a kind of lip, and then you dip back down to the level on which the houses are built.
And by the way, you know, depending on how old the buildings are, the buildings that are on there, they may be built at different heights.
KATJA: mein Haus so alt ist, liegt das so tief. Das heißt, wenn das Wasser wirklich in die Oggenswarft kommt, dann wird mein Haus das erste sein, was absäuft.
DIRECT ENGLISH TRANSLATION: …
...my house is so old, it lies so deep. That means if the water really reaches Oggenswarft, my house will be the first to go under.
And Katja, for example, lives in a 300-year house, which is the lowest on her dwelling mound, and she says that that means that if the water ever came over the top, her house would be the first to flood.
So that's one thing. So, the work that's going on to raise the mounds, and they do this one mound at a time, right? And at, at a cost of between €4 and €11 million, depending on the size and the scale of the work. And so that's between, I think about $4.5 to just over $12 million dollars.
And Michael Kliesch, the mayor that we heard from earlier, he told me that although it's expensive, uh, the German government, which puts up the money, is really actively investing in keeping the Hallig Islands inhabited.
Carlyle: These islands do sound amazing, but how does the government justify the really pretty huge amount of money and resources to sustain relatively few people? Why is the government so invested in the future of these islands?
Tamsin: Yeah, that's a, that's a good question, and I did speak to a couple of people about that, and, um, including the coastal protection authorities. And they very clearly told me that from their perspective, that their job is to protect communities and to make sure that people can live safely in whatever location they are.
So be that along the mainland coast, be that the larger islands, or be that the Hallig Islands. So yeah, as long as there are communities there, their remit is to make sure they're safe. And then Sandra also said to me, you know, that there is an element of cultural heritage that needs to be preserved as well. And it's really clearly the case that there is cultural heritage here because, as I mentioned, this is an utterly unique way of life in an utterly unique physical environment.
But then also, Michael Kliesch, the mayor of Hooge that we heard from before. He thinks, one of the reasons he says the government is, is so invested in protecting the Hallig Islands and the other islands, the bigger islands nearby, and making sure that they remain inhabitable, um, is because collectively they serve as the first line of defense for waves rolling in across the North Sea.
MICHAEL:
wird, äh, die offene See durchbrochen durch diese Inseln-Halli-Struktur. Und damit kommen die Wellen und damit die Wucht der Wellen deutlich abgeschwächter auf die Festlandsküste
DIRECT ENGLISH TRANSLATION: …...the open sea is broken up by this island-and-Hallig structure. Consequently, the waves—and the force of the waves—reach the mainland coast significantly weakened.
Tamsin: because without these smaller land masses, then they-- when these waves came to hit the mainland, they would potentially be stronger and cause more damage.
So the buffer, that's one reason. And he also reminded me that the Wadden Sea, which stretches along parts of Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands, and it's the world's largest unbroken system of intertidal sand and mud flats, that is exactly the sea in which the Hallig Islands are located, and that just happens to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
MICHAEL:
Neben der Bedeutung als, äh, Bollwerk für die Festlandsküste spielt es sicherlich,
das ist meine Überzeugung, eine noch größere Rolle, dass wir als Biosphärengebiet anerkannt sind,
DIRECT ENGLISH TRANSLATION: Beyond its significance as, uh, a bulwark for the mainland coast, I am convinced that the fact that we are recognized as a biosphere reserve plays an even greater role.
Tamsin: and so he's convinced that the recognition of this area as a biosphere reserve plays an even greater role.
Carlyle: Yeah. So the government is spending this money to protect these islands, you know, so that they remain a buffer and also because they're, you know, singular and and unique and they're a UNESCO site. but we haven't talked about much yet is the fact that sea levels are rising. And, as you mentioned, these are very low-lying islands. So how is level rise impacting the Hallig islands now, and are people worried about the future of living here?
Tamsin: Okay. Well, of course, it's having an impact. I mean, one thing that is also worth mentioning, um, is the fact that these Hallig islands, they can potentially grow, right? The thing about the floods is that they serve to grow the Hallig islands by bringing sediment with them, which can slowly build them up and make them become a little bit higher.
But, I was told by Katja, there's no way that that can keep pace with the rate of sea level rise.
Carlyle: Right, and especially Hooga Island you mentioned, there's now a dike stopping a lot of those floods, so I imagine they're getting even less sediment now.
Tamsin: Well, the thing is, the way that they let the water back off the island on Hooge, they let it go out very slowly so that the sediment is not taken when, when there is a flooding event, so the sediment is not taken back out to sea. That's the idea.
Carlyle: Oh, wow.
Tamsin: Nevertheless, nevertheless, sea levels are rising. And so, yeah, to your question, I mean, yeah, there's a-- of course, there's a great awareness of rising sea levels, but, um, I didn't meet anybody who said they were thinking of leaving because of them. And everyone I spoke to said that they love living on the Hallig. It's their home, and they enjoy life and don't want to go anywhere.
And in fact, when I was speaking with, uh, Sandra, she said that people often ask her if she's afraid when there are flooding events. And she said, you know what would really make me scared would be being told that I had to leave if there was some decision about implementing a managed retreat from the Hallig.
SANDRA: Das wär etwas, wo ich Angst vor hätte, dass irgendeiner da drüben am Festland oder in Kiel oder sonst wo überlegt: "Mensch, die siedeln wir jetzt alle um."
DIRECT ENGLISH TRANSLATION:That’s something I’d be afraid of—that someone over on the mainland, or in Kiel, or wherever else, might decide: "Hey, let's just relocate all of them."
Tamsin: But also Katja, I might say she's very aware of the risks, and she's very aware of the challenges, I'd say she was quite pragmatic. Her house being very low-lying, she said she knows that if the water were to come in, and she believes that it will one day, that it will come over the top of the dwelling mound, that her house, she said, would be the first to feel it.
KATJA: Irgendwann wird das passieren. Ich hoffe natürlich, dass ich das nicht erleben werde. Ähm, es kommt, wann es kommt und wie es kommt.
DIRECT ENGLISH TRANSLATION: It will happen at some point. Naturally, I hope I won't live to see it. Um, it will come when it comes and how it comes.
Tamsin: But she also says she really hopes that she's not around to witness it, and she wants to stay where she is for the rest of her life,
Carlyle: What about the mayor that you spoke with? Is he making plans, or how did he think about the possibility of more intense flooding in the future?
TAMSIN: Yeah, the mayor... So that was interesting. I mean, he said,
MICHAEL:
Der Meeresspiegel steigt, der Klimawandel ist da. Die ersten Folgen sind auch da, (fades HERE) aber es ist eben bei uns noch n-nicht oder lange nicht. Kommt drauf an, wie nun der Meeresspiegel ansteigt…
(Translation: Sea levels are rising; climate change is here. The initial consequences are already upon us, though for us—well, it hasn't reached that point yet, or at least not by a long shot. It depends on how the sea level rises from here on out.)
yeah, sea levels are rising, climate change is here, and the first effects are already being felt, but he also said the situation isn't so dire that we'd have to move away.
MICHAEL: sodass die nächsten Jahre oder Jahrzehnte durchaus, äh, man sorgenfrei hier leben kann.
(translation: ...so that one can certainly live here without worry for the next few years or decades.)
Tamsin: And in fact, he said the protective measures already in place and those planned, not just for the Hallig Islands, but also for the bigger islands, and therefore also for the mainland, are sufficient for the coming years or even decades.
Carlyle: Hmm. Well, so for now at least, it seems that the German government will do what it takes to the Hallig Islands inhabitable. But can you explain some of some of these protective measures that people like Michael feel so confident, at least about the near future, of life on these islands?
Tamsin: Yeah, so as I mentioned, the main measure is to raise the height of the dwelling mounds, right? They have a traffic light system, red, amber, green, to denote how urgent it is.
But there is also another measure that they have in place, which has actually been in place since the 1960s, is that whenever a new house is built on a dwelling mound, it has to have one room that is anchored to the dwelling mounds itself as something called a pile foundation.
And the idea there is basically that if the building were torn away in a violent storm, that this one room would remain standing, and people could take shelter in it and be rescued from that room once the waters had receded.
Carlyle: Okay, so you've spent time in the Halong Islands and you've spoken to all these people. What were you left with when you headed back on the ferry about the future of life on these islands?
Tamsin: Well, I mean, the thing, when I go to that part of the coast, one of the things that always sticks with me is the history of the place.
And so Dierk Jensen, I told you that he and I went out into the sea and, you know, to witness how quickly it was coming in, and he's the one who takes people on tours, these walking tours also to Hallig Hooge. And he said he always finds remnants of the past when he walks across, say, of, of human existence, human habitation.
And, he's not the only one. I mean, on the island of Pellworm there's a little museum which is full to the rafters of things that have been pulled from the mud flats over decades. I mean, like tiles, bits of crockery, cutlery.
I mean, it's incredible to see all of that and to think also how much more must be under the mud flats, right?
And as Dirk also put it to me, it's kind of a reminder of how things are always changing and of how societies and communities have to be adaptable if they want to survive.
Carlyle: And that's a familiar sentiment here on the Gulf Coast, the need to continue to adapt.
Well, it's been really really fascinating to feel like I've traveled to the Halik Islands with you, Tamsin. Thank you for sharing this story with "Sea Change."
TAMSIN: Oh, you're so welcome. It was a great pleasure, and maybe you'll get there yourself one day.
Carlyle: I would love that.
