© Jim Bourg/Reuters
Washington, DC is slowly seeping into the Earth, and it could sink another six inches in the next century due to subsurface land movement under the Chesapeake Bay, according to a new study.
The research confirms twin hypotheses, both of which are worrying.
The first is that tide gauges show sea level rises in the Chesapeake region are twice the global average, and that levels are rising faster than elsewhere on the East Coast. The second is that the pre-historic ice sheets in the north which pushed up the land around DC are now melting, and the land in the Chesapeake region is settling back down as a result.
"It's a bit like sitting on one side of a water bed filled with very thick honey, then the other side goes up," explained Ben DeJong, a doctoral student in geology at the University of Vermont (UVM) and the lead author of the study, in a
statement. "But when you stand, the bulge comes down again."
Researchers at UVM said the sinking land under the nation's capital would exacerbate the effects of flooding caused by climate change and rising ocean waters, and threaten the region's roads, monuments, wildlife refuges, and military installations.
Comment: It seems that the local bears just don't take kindly to humans in the vicinity of this military installation, see also: Man survives second bear attack in 4 years at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington: 'I just had this deja vu'