Study Shows Link Between Skyscrapers and Sinking of New York

Towards the disappearance of the one nicknamed “The Big Apple”? A study published in Earth’s Future, a scientific journal dealing with ecological issues, highlights the work of a group of scientists who set out to assess the cumulative weight of buildings, buildings and skyscrapers in New York. . It is for them to prove the influence of the mass of the latter on the sinking of the megalopolis, a phenomenon well known to specialists, due to erosion and human activity.

If we know that New York is sinking by 1 to 2 millimeters per year, is it really the fault of its buildings? The researchers calculated that these represent a total of 762 million tonnes which exert unprecedented pressure on the soil. Some neighborhoods are more affected than others: the infrastructures having been built in the 1950s on much softer ground, the ground is sinking between 4 and 5 millimeters in places.

Sea Level Rise.org reveals record high water levels in New York. The Hudson and East Rivers have risen 23 centimeters since 1950. Predictions are for a rise of another 20 to 75 centimeters by 2050, for the most alarmist, 1.8 meters before 2100. The city has well Aware of this problem, New York has made the fortification of its 836 kilometers of coastline a priority.

A disaster for the environment

This subsidence is not a simple news item but a major element of the climate issues surrounding New York. This phenomenon will drastically accelerate the impact of rising sea levels triggered by global warming and the melting of glaciers. A $20 billion plan, dubbed “climate resilience,” has been launched to protect the city from water.

« The purpose of the article is to raise awareness that each additional high-rise building built on coastlines, rivers or lakesides could contribute to future flood risk. »write the scientists behind this study.