The US Geological Survey scientists reported that New York City was slowly sinking under its own weight. They cautioned that given the rise in sea levels due to global warming and melting glaciers, this could lead to the flooding of the metropolis. An article with the results of the study was published in Earth’s Future, a press release is available on the website. Phys.org.
The city is sinking at an average rate of one to two millimeters per year. Scientists believe that this may be due to the combined weight of all buildings exceeding one million, about 1.5 trillion tons. This is proportional to the 4,700 buildings of the Empire State Building.
The rate of collapse is different in different parts of New York. Skyscrapers in downtown Manhattan are built on solid rock, but parts of Brooklyn and Queens are on loose soil and “sink” faster.
Scientists are confident that while the process will be slow, parts of the city will inevitably be flooded. For them, hundreds of years from now, New York will be the American version of Venice.
But some parts of the city are in danger. The average elevation above sea level in the southern part of Manhattan is one to two meters. At the same time, sea level is rising at the same rate as land is sinking. Climate change can lead first to devastating floods and secondly to severe hurricanes and storms.