
© Unsplash/CC0 Public DomainRio de Janeiro, Brazil.
A team of researchers at Nanyang Technological University, working with a group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and another colleague at ETH Zürich, has found evidence showing that parts of many big coastal cities are sinking faster than the sea is rising. In their paper published in the journal
Nature Sustainability, the group describes
using satellite-based radar to measure the degree of land subsidence for 48 of the largest cities in the world.
Prior research has shown that
global warming is melting ice around the world, leading to rising sea levels.
This increase in sea levels is a major concern to cities and towns that lie on the edges of the sea. But many cities also face another problem —
land subsidence, in which land sinks due to removal of groundwater or gas and compaction of the ground from the massive weight of buildings on top of it.
Comment: Note that this phenomena is occurring alongside various other unusual geologic and seismic activity:
- Sinkholes: The groundbreaking truth
- Huge explosion filmed in Caspian Sea, officials speculate oil rig fire or mud volcano - UPDATE: Footage of 'new island' formed in aftermath released
- Road in UK is ripped up and twisted by 'unexplained underground movements'
- UK: Devon village rising 2cm a year, London suburb sinking, and scientists have no idea why
- Lake Michigan deep water is warming and scientists don't know why - NOAA
See also: