It’s gonna be a beach when it’s done. Regular sand replenishment offers the Fischland-Darss-Zingst peninsula more security during storm surges.
Image: dpa
Beaches are artificially kept in shape. Will they disappear altogether when sea levels rise? In order to defy climate change, the sandy beach must remain mobile – with natural dunes instead of dykes.
Neu are just the punks. Otherwise Sylt has not changed, the immaculate beach is still where it was last summer, the beach chairs are set up. And from above, the most popular German island looks just like it does on the stickers that Germans have been putting on their trunks since the 1960s. The world may be upside down, but Sylt remains stable.
That costs work and money. The people of Sylt have been keeping the island artificially in place for decades, fighting against storm surges in winter, flushing, patching, leveling, with a tiny, loose material that can be rubbed between your fingers: sand. The grains of quartz are the island’s capital and its destiny – and hopefully its salvation from doom. Both residents of Sylt and guests are worried about the future. What will become of the island and its sandy beaches when the sea rises higher? Does everything just go down then?