Researchers from the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island have published a study showing that New York City is sinking under the weight of its countless, massive buildings. The skyscraper density of the Big Apple is increasing the risk of flooding in the city.
In addition to flooding and sea level rise driven by climate change, the risk for New Yorkers is growing because the city is sinking by an average of 1 to 2 millimeters per year, with some areas sinking at twice that rate.
In the study, scientists calculated the mass of the city's structures—which include the famous Empire State Building and Chrysler Building, for example—and found they weigh a total of 762 billion kilograms, equivalent to about 140 million elephants.
According to a report by The Guardian, many of the city's largest buildings were constructed on schist and other solid bedrock, which reduces the likelihood of sinking. However, many other structures were built on softer mixtures of clay and sand, contributing to soil settlement.
Sea level rise has been measured in New York since 1950, and the waters surrounding the city have since risen nearly 23 centimeters, according to sealevelrise.org. Unfortunately, with global warming and melting glaciers, this rate is expected to accelerate if no action is taken.
“It’s not something to panic about immediately, but there’s this ongoing process that increases the risk of flooding,” said Tom Parsons, a geophysicist at the US Geological Survey and the study's lead author, as reported by The Guardian.
“The softer the soil, the greater the compression from the buildings. It wasn't a mistake to build such large structures in New York, but we do have to keep in mind that every time you build something there, you push down on the ground a little bit more,” Parsons added.
A Global Issue
The researchers warn that New York is not the only city facing growing risks; coastal cities worldwide are already dealing with more intense hurricanes, subsidence, and rising sea levels—consequences of human activities driving the climate crisis.
Major cities around the world are expected to grow disproportionately compared to rural areas, with a projected 70% of the world's population living in cities by 2050. Increased urbanization will likely exacerbate subsidence through groundwater extraction and building density, which, combined with accelerating sea level rise, poses an increasing risk of flooding in coastal cities.
In New York, for instance, the NOAA Climate Program Office projects major flooding events occurring three to four times more frequently between 2054 and 2079. According to scientists at the University of Rhode Island, the level of flood risk is further heightened by population density, as the city has “a deeply concentrated population of 8.4 million people.”
“As these trends continue, it will be important to remain mindful of flood mitigation strategies in growing coastal cities,” wrote the authors of the study “The Weight of New York City: Possible Contributions to Subsidence from Anthropogenic Sources,” published in the journal Earth’s Future.
Via CicloVivo
This article was written by Natasha Olsen. The translation is powered by AI.
