Here’s something that you would not have imagined to happen in your lifetime. New York City is slowly sinking and it is the high-rise buildings and skyscrapers that are causing this, a new study has revealed. However, what many failed to focus on, was the fact that it isn’t just New York that is sinking!
According to a study published in the journal Earth’s Future, the city is sinking at the rate of 1-2 millimeters on average every year, with some areas that are plunging at double the rate than this. The researchers arrived at this conclusion after studying the geology beneath the city and comparing it with the satellite data showing its footprint.
Why is New York sinking?
The researchers in the report stated that the sea level has been on a constant rise . In fact New York faces chances of flood because the sea level is rising 3 to 4 times higher than the global average rate along the Atlantic coast of North America. Some areas like lower Manhattan are sinking much faster.
Lead researcher and geologist Tom Parsons said in the report that the whole point of bringing this up is to raise awareness to the fact that every other high-rise that is constructed along the coast could contribute and lead to future risk of floods in the area.
The ground on which the skyscrapers stand is made up of sediments which according to the study are shifting under the weight of these tall buildings.
The rising sea levels are a big threat to the 8.4 million people residing in the city.
Cities that are sinking across the globe
Researchers have warned that New York is not the only city that is facing this danger. As the climate crisis deepens, researchers fear that many cities that are built along the coastal line across the globe are facing the same threat. It may not be because of the high-rise buildings, but the rising sea levels are definitely going to pose a threat to these areas.
A March 2022 study had claimed that India’s financial capital Mumbai was also gradually going down at an average rate of 2 mm per year. The study titled, “Subsidence in Coastal Cities Throughout the World,” stated that other cities that are in fact sinking include Shanghai in CHina, Jakarta in Indonesia and Hanoi in Vietnam among others.