{"id":29853,"date":"2024-04-18T20:45:25","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T20:45:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/18\/chinas-cities-are-sinking-below-sea-level-study-finds\/"},"modified":"2024-04-18T20:45:25","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T20:45:25","slug":"chinas-cities-are-sinking-below-sea-level-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/18\/chinas-cities-are-sinking-below-sea-level-study-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s Cities Are Sinking Below Sea Level, Study Finds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"China\u2019s<\/div>


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n

As China\u2019s cities grow, they are also sinking.<\/p>\n

An estimated 16 percent of the country\u2019s major cities are losing more than 10 millimeters of elevation per year and nearly half are losing more than 3 millimeters per year, according to a new study published in the journal Science<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These amounts may seem small, but they accumulate quickly. In 100 years, a quarter of China\u2019s urban coastal land could sit below sea level because of a combination of subsidence and sea level rise, according to the study.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a national problem,\u201d said Robert Nicholls, a climate scientist and civil engineer at the University of East Anglia who reviewed the paper. Dr. Nicholls added that, to his knowledge, this study is the first to measure subsidence across many urban areas at once using state-of-the-art radar data from satellites.<\/p>\n

Subsidence in these cities is caused in part by the sheer weight of buildings and infrastructure, the study found. Pumping water from aquifers underneath the cities also plays a role, as do oil drilling and coal mining, all activities that leave empty space underground where soil and rocks can compact or collapse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n