New York City’s Sinking Buildings: A Warning for Natural Disasters

Alarm in New York: The city that never sleeps keeps sinking!

According to a study by the “American Geophysical Union” (AGU; available from BILD), the famous skyscrapers of the “Big Apple” are to blame.

In the AGU report, the researchers conclude that rising sea levels around the world are not a good combination with New York’s heavy skyscrapers.

According to the AGU, sea levels are expected to rise by 200-600mm by 2050.

The problem: As sea levels rise, New York’s roughly one million buildings, weighing 771 million tons, are pressing down on a subsoil that cannot withstand the weight in the long term.

The city with more than eight million inhabitants is currently sinking up to two millimeters per year. Some areas of New York are sinking much faster. And: The metropolis is to sink FOUR TIMES faster than less built-up areas.

While 1-2 millimeters per year doesn’t sound like much at first, that rate makes the city extremely vulnerable to natural disasters, according to lead researcher and geologist Tom Parsons.

Natural disasters threaten New York

Risk factor nature: Not only the weight is a problem – natural disasters eat away at the substance of the house foundations.

The city is between one and two meters above sea level and has been repeatedly plagued by flooding in recent years.

► New York is flooding more frequently: The city ranks third in the world for future vulnerability to coastal flooding.

This is extremely dangerous because: Building foundations that are repeatedly exposed to salt water can become weaker due to corrosion and thus sink even further than before.

The AGU researchers note that the major risks of natural disasters in new buildings after the devastating hurricane Sandy in 2012 were apparently not taken into account. “90 percent of the 67,400 buildings in the extended flood plains after Hurricane Sandy were not built to flood plain standards.”

► Another risk factor: The greenhouse gases in the “Big Apple” “appear to reduce the natural wind shear barrier along the US east coast, which will allow for more frequent high-intensity hurricane events in the coming decades,” the researchers explain in their study.