Are Skyscrapers to Blame for New York City’s Sinking? Expert Study Reveals Surprising Cause and Flood Risks

United States |
22.05.2023

Likewise, the melting of glaciers, the rise in sea level and the greater frequency of storms represent an increase in flood risks for the US city.

A group of geologists suggests that the weight of the large number of skyscrapers in NY is partly responsible for the sinking that is affecting the American city, as detailed in a study recently published by Earth’s Future Journal.

According to experts, new york sinks each year from 1 to 2 millimeters on average. Lower Manhattan, for example, is sinking at a rate of 2.1 millimeters per year, while other areas of the city are twice as fast.

The weight of the buildings

Scientists examined man-made and natural causes behind the sinking of NY. Among these factors, experts point out that the weight of the 1,084,954 buildings in the five districts of the city could also be behind the collapse of the city.

As a result, the cumulative weight of the buildings in the metropolis is 762,000,000 tons, that is, equivalent to the weight of 140 million elephants, distributed over 778 square kilometers.

“Here we calculate a hitherto unquantified contribution to subsidence from the cumulative mass and downward pressure exerted by the city’s built environment,” the authors wrote in the publication.

flood danger

Also, the water surrounding the city has risen about 22 centimeters since 1950. And as glaciers melt and storms become more frequent, sea levels are expected to rise rapidly in the coming years.

In this sense, the imminent collapse of the iconic american city It means a greater risk of suffering floods in the North American Atlantic coast, but also in other parts of the world.

“A deeply concentrated population of 8.4 million people faces varying degrees of flood hazard in New York City,” they noted.

“You shouldn’t panic”

Tom Parson, main author and geophysicist of the United States Geological Survey, calls for calm, but wants to warn about this phenomenon to prevent flood risks.

“It’s not something to panic about right away, but it is an ongoing process that increases the risk of overflow flooding,” he told The Guardian.

“The softer the ground, the more compression the buildings exert. It was not a mistake to build such large buildings in New York, but you have to keep in mind that every time you build something there, the ground is put under a little more pressure” he added.

In 2012 and in 2021, New York City was hit by two hurricanes: Sandy and Ida respectively. Both caused flooding in various areas, power outages and drowning deaths. The scientists point out that these phenomena were accentuated due to the climate change.

Edited by José Urrejola