You may want to rethink living by the beach. Experts have recently shared some alarming news and gave warning to 28 major cities in the U.S. Apparently, many of this cities are sinking... and they are sinking fast.
Experts Share The Alarming Warning For Major Cities In The U.S. — You Are SINKING!
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When thinking of major cities that are sinking, my mind immediately goes to coastal cities. I mean that makes sense right? The closer you are to the water the higher the chance you have of sinking. While that logic is sound, it is not the case here — at least not for all of the cities. The Daily Mail shared that while there are many factors that are contributing to the sinking, one stood out among the rest. They shared, "Researchers found ongoing groundwater extraction for drinking water and other uses is the most common cause of the sinking."
Therefore, it is not just coastal cities that are affected. In fact, several landlocked cities — such as Fort Worth and Dallas — are sinking at a faster rate than some of the coastal ones. However coastal Houston still maintains the top spot for fastest sinking city "with almost half of its area dipping more than one fifth of an inch per year."
So how are experts sharing this alarming warning for these 28 major cities in the U.S.? They shared the various factors that they feel are contributing to this disastrous news.
What Is Contributing To The Sinking?
Groundwater extraction was just one of the many factors that are contributing to the sinking of 28 major cities in the U.S. In addition, the increasing infrastructure also plays a role. For example, Daily Mail shares that "A 2023 study also found that the weight of buildings in densely urbanized areas may be contributing to ground sinking." One state that stood out in that regard was New York. "Those researchers found that New York's more than one million buildings are pressing down on the Earth so hard that they have become an important factor in the city's subsidence."
Add that to rising sea levels and oil drilling and we have a serious problem emerging. Already many of these cities have had increased flood rates as a result of their sinking. Researchers are urging cities to use this data to help develop solutions. Here are some of the cities that are affected.
- Seattle
- Portland
- San Jose
- Los Angeles
- Phoenix
- Denver
- El Paso
- Dallas
- Houston
- Oklahoma City
- Jacksonville
- Charolette
- Nashville
- Indianapolis
- Chicago
- Washington D.C
- New York
- Boston
