Scientists name a city that could drown under the weight of skyscrapers

One of the most famous cities in the world may go underwater. Scientists say that flooding threatens New York (USA) due to the large number of skyscrapers.

According to Science Alert, the scientists came to this conclusion by examining, among other things, satellite data. They drew attention to the gradual subsidence of the earth's surface - New York City is sinking at a rate of 1-2 millimeters per year.

"A few millimeters may not seem like much, but some parts of the city are sinking much faster, on par with the fastest observed rate at which tectonic plates roll away as glaciers melt. The deformation could spell trouble for the low-lying city of more than 8 million people," the publication writes, citing Earth's Future data.

Tom Parsons of the US Geological Survey and his colleagues from the University of Rhode Island, who conducted the study, say that every additional high-rise building built on the coast can still contribute to flooding.

The scientists calculated that the total mass of more than a million buildings in New York City was 764,000,000,000 kilograms. They then divided the city into a grid of 100 by 100 meter squares and converted the mass of the building to downward pressure, taking into account gravity.

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This is how they got the data that New York is gradually sinking.

The researchers note that New York is not alone in this problem. Part of the Indonesian capital is at risk of flooding. Jakarta could be underwater by 2050. Parts of this city sink by almost 11 centimeters a year due to groundwater extraction.

The publication writes that a study of 99 coastal cities around the world conducted in 2022 showed that land subsidence may actually be a bigger or at least underestimated problem compared to sea level rise. In most of the cities studied, the land is sinking faster than sea levels are rising, meaning that residents will face flooding sooner than climate models predict.

Earlier, scientists predicted when the Sun might go out.

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