New York City is hitting an all-time low, literally.
New research reveals dramatic concern that the Big Apple, Long Island and many other Atlantic coastal regions face an inevitable risk of sinking under the weight of their buildings at an alarming rate.
“It affects you and me and everyone. It may be gradual, but the impacts are real,” said Manoochehr Shirzaei, a professor and researcher at Virginia Tech.
Other metropolitan areas such as Baltimore, Maryland, along with Norfolk and Virginia Beach in Virginia, were also flagged as coastal areas of concern and prone to dangerous flooding as a result of land subsidence.
The new study, published in Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, highlights that the rate of subsidence (scientifically called subsidence) is occurring at a staggering 2 millimeters per year in many areas.
That level, which is potentially affecting 2 million people and 800,000 properties along the East Coast, “should cause concern,” added lead author Leonard Ohenhen.
New research warns that the east coast is at risk of flood damage because some areas are sinking into the ground. Virginia Tech News
“For example, important areas of critical infrastructure in New York, including JFK and LaGuardia airports and [their] “Tracks, like railway systems, are affected by subsidence rates that exceed 2 millimeters per year.”
A September investigation by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration noted that areas around LGA and the US Open’s Arthur Ashe Stadium had fallen between 3.7 and 4.6 millimeters per year between 2016 and 2023.
A viral video from September also captured a wild flooding scene at LaGuardia as passengers endured ankle-deep water inside the airport.
The Virginia Tech study warns that more than 1,400 miles of land on the East Coast is sinking at a rate of more than 5 millimeters a year.
That’s four more than the rate of global sea rise.
Coastal areas like New York City are sinking and that is causing an increased risk of flooding. New York Post
Many of these areas are already experiencing an influx of problems related to subsidence (water is easier to flood with less resistance) through increased flooding, as well as intense storm surges and hurricanes.
“All climate change models show that in the future, storms and hurricanes will become more intense,” Klaus Jacob, professor emeritus at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, previously told The Post.
“So that probably means stronger storm surges, higher storm surges, and that means more risk and loss of protection for the city.”
Experts warn that sinking land masses increase the risk of flooding and storm surges. AP
This week’s Northeast Easter, which left devastating amounts of flooding in coastal areas like Long Island and Connecticut, is a prime example of such concerns.
But Jacob warns that the area at risk is much broader than the immediate tri-state area.
“Long Island, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, you name it,” he said.
“The Hudson Valley to Troy… I would say anything at a height of 20 [feet above sea level] and underneath there is extreme risk. There is a marginal risk for elevations between 20 and 30 feet.”
He believes New York City, especially midtown Manhattan, will need to become a modern Venice over the next century.
“If we want to keep skyscrapers and other buildings functioning, they will have to become mini islands that are in the water,” Jacob said.
New York City and Long Island are some of the highest risk areas for flooding. Getty Images/iStockphoto
“They will have to be served not by taxis on wheels, but by amphibious ships. Barges will have to come to collect the garbage. And we need more high lines that connect the different buildings to each other.”
As a comparatively quick fix, the Army Corps of Engineers is proposing a $52 billion series of levees to surround areas like Manhattan and the Meadowlands.
It has received bipartisan criticism.
“That’s a finite duration… sooner or later, we’re going to run out of ways and means to address those issues,” Jacob added.
“Now, that will not happen tomorrow, but in a few decades and from tomorrow. [year] From 9:00 p.m. onwards, things will get serious.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn