NYC SINKS

Submitted by ub on

As a US citizen, a New York City taxpayer, a longtime resident, and a fan of The Big Apple it stinks just to think that NYC sinks.

Localized uplift, widespread subsidence, and implications for sea level rise in the New York City metropolitan area. Regional relative sea level rise is exacerbating flooding hazards in the coastal zone. In addition to changes in the ocean, vertical land motion (VLM) is a driver of spatial variation in sea level change that can either diminish or enhance flood risk.

Here, researchers apply state-of-the-art interferometric synthetic aperture radar and global navigation satellite system time series analysis to estimate velocities and corresponding uncertainties at 30-m resolution in the New York City metropolitan area, revealing VLM with unprecedented detail.

They find broad subsidence of 1.6 mm/year, consistent with glacial isostatic adjustment to the melting of the former ice sheets, and previously undocumented hot spots of both subsidence and uplift that can be physically explained in some locations.

The results inform ongoing efforts to adapt to sea level rise and reveal points of VLM that motivate both future scientific investigations into surface geology and assessments of engineering projects.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adi8259

The landscape in New York City is sinking, accelerating risk of sea level rise and flooding: study

Researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory found some areas are sinking more quickly than others https://www.salon.com/2023/09/28/the-landscape-in-new-york-city-is-sink…

Climate change will raise sea levels, cause apocalyptic floods and displace almost a billion people. Humanity needs to plan accordingly for the countless number of future climate refugees fleeing rising oceans https://www.salon.com/2023/08/28/climate-change-will-raise-sea-levels-c…

Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency and urged people to stay off roads during what one official described as “the wettest day we’ve had since Hurricane Ida.”

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/09/29/nyregion/nyc-rain-flash-floodin…

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