Already struggling with a problem of potholes linked to climate change, New York City is gradually sinking in water due to the weight of its skyscrapers.
This is the conclusion of a May report from the United States Geological Survey titled “The weight of New York City: Possible contributions to subsidence from anthropogenic sources.”
The report, which you can read here, indicates that the southern tip of the borough of Manhattan is vulnerable to natural disasters in a study. About 8.4 million people live in New York City, which is sinking 1-2 mm/year as sea levels rise, which puts the city at the same sinking rate as Venice, Italy.
Urban subsidence can be caused by groundwater withdrawal, natural soil compaction, tectonic effects, diversion of normal sediment accumulation, and the weight of cities themselves, the report says.
“New York City faces accelerating inundation risk from sea level rise, subsidence, and increasing storm intensity from natural and anthropogenic causes,” found the study, which calculates the mass of all buildings in New York City and model the subsidence caused by the pressure they exert on the Earth.
It also emerges that the East Coast city faces significant challenges from flood hazard. The threat of sea level rise is, according to the government researchers, four to five times higher than the global average along the Atlantic coast of North America.
“Post-glacial isostatic effects are projected to cause between 500–1,500 mm of subsidence by 2100. Much of lower Manhattan lies between 1 and 2 m in elevation above sea level, and measured subsidence from Global Positioning System (GPS) there is 2.1 mm/year,” the report says.
Rising Seas + Urbanization
The study chronicles the passage of two recent hurricanes that killed many people and caused heavy damage in the Big Apple to illustrate the dangers that await the huge urban center, including the boroughs of Brooklyn and…
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