New York City is sinking under the weight of its buildings: Study (2024)
Is New York City sinking?
According to a new study, New York City is slowly sinking due to the incredible weight of its skyscrapers.
NEW YORK - The Big Apple could be underwater in the near future, and its skyscrapers are to blame. That's according to a new study published last week.
The study, which was published in the American Geophysical Union journal, says that New York City is sinking 1-2 millimeters a year, while sea levels are projected to rise by 200-600 millimeters by 2050.
According to the study, the combined weight of New York City's buildings, a whopping 1.68 trillion pounds, is contributing to the problem, causing immense pressure to be exerted on the mixture of sand, clay, and silt that make up much of the ground underneath the city.
Manhattan lies between one and two meters above sea level, so combined with rising sea levels due to climate change, even a small amount of sinking each year could lead to disastrous results in the future.
The view north from the 86th floor observation deck of the Empire State Building on March 18, 2023, in New York City. (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
In 2012, Hurricane Sandy inundated much of Lower Manhattan with seawater, while in 2021, heavy rainfall from Hurricane Ida overwhelmed drainage systems because of heavy runoff.
"New York is emblematic of growing coastal cities all over the world that are observed to be subsiding," the study says. "Meaning there is a shared global challenge of mitigation against a growing inundation hazard."
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The study also warns that in the years since Hurricane Sandy, New York City still hasn't done enough to prepare itself for potential future flooding.
"New York City is ranked third in the world in terms of future exposed assets to coastal flooding, and 90% of the 67,400 structures in the expanded post-Hurricane-Sandy flood risk areas have not been built to floodplain standards," the paper reads.
With 70% of the world's population expected to be living in cities by 2050, increasing urbanization will drive construction and is likely to exacerbate subsidence, which, combined with accelerating sea level rise, could cause major flood hazards in coastal cities across the globe.
under the weight of its massive buildings, leaving it more vulnerable to rising seas, a new study finds. Most coastal cities are slowly sinking as the earth beneath them settles and groundwater is drained away.
The study has been published in the journal Earth's Future. The city is sinking at the rate of 1-2 millimetres per year, the researchers found. They arrived at the result by comparing the geology beneath the city to satellite data showing its footprint.
The geologists calculated that New York's more than one million buildings added up to a total mass of 1.68 trillion pounds (762 billion kilograms) of downward pressure on the earth. CNN said that was equivalent to roughly 1.9 million fully fueled Boeing 747-400s.
The sinking is occurring due to a geological process known as glacial isostatic adjustment, Buzzanga said. About 20,000 years ago, the northern half of North America was covered in a gigantic ice cap, and once that ice began to melt, the suppressed land that lied beneath began to rise up.
While that may not seem significant to untrained eyes, the gradual descent makes NYC extremely vulnerable to natural disasters, according to lead researcher and geologist Tom Parsons of the United States Geological Survey.
The Big Apple could become the Big Atlantis after a new study warned that New York is sinking under the weight of its skyscrapers. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the US metropolis is subsiding at a rate of 1-2mm per year, with some areas like Manhattan and Brooklyn sinking even faster.
One approach is to declare a building freeze to at least slow the sinking. This means a building freeze on soft ground. Instead, new buildings in New York City would be better built on the much more stable rocky ground. Some cities have had success in slowing water withdrawals from groundwater and aquifers.
The researchers calculated that the city's buildings, which include the famous Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building, weigh a total of 1.68 trillion pounds or the equivalent of approximately 760 billion kilos, which which represents the weight of 140 million elephants.
Most sewers are installed between 10 to 25 feet under the ground. Steel structures hold up the sides of the trenches and protect workers inside trenches during construction.
The five boroughs of NYC weighs nearly 840 billion tons in only a 300 square mile area, and that's without the additional weight of things like over 2 million vehicles and 8.5 million people.
New York City water meets all federal and state standards and is safe to drink. Chlorine odors may be more noticeable when the weather is warmer. The most effective way to eliminate or reduce the taste is by leaving a glass or pitcher of your tap water in the refrigerator overnight before drinking.
Several factors can contribute to the formation of sinkholes in New York City. Understanding these causes is crucial to mitigating the risk and preventing further damage. Broken Sewer or Water Pipes: One of the most common causes of sinkholes in NYC is the deterioration and rupture of underground sewer and water pipes.
Its location at the mouth of the Hudson River, which feeds into a naturally sheltered harbor and then into the Atlantic Ocean, has helped the city grow in significance as a trading port. Most of the city is built on the three islands of Long Island, Manhattan, and Staten Island.
Sinking threatens the metropolitan area, researchers said, with the sea level at The Battery, a park in Manhattan, rising 0.12 inches per year in the 1900s. More recently, the sea level has risen at a rate of 0.17 inches per year.
Depending on your lifestyle, your living expenses in New York will vary. But overall, the cost of living in New York for a single person is $4,130. Whereas the average cost of living in NYC per month for a family of 4 is around $8,925 (renting a 2-bedroom apartment).
Answer and Explanation: New York City, located in New York state, has an average elevation of 33 feet above sea level. This is approximately 10 meters above sea level. As a coastal area, the city is not expected to be far above sea level, allowing for waterways and bays to increase revenue through shipping.
In July 1978, a possible structural flaw was discovered in Citicorp Center, a skyscraper that had recently been completed in New York City. Workers quietly made repairs over the next few months. The building, now known as Citigroup Center, occupied an entire block and was to be the headquarters of Citibank.
Most of Manhattan is very slightly above sea level, Its is an island in one of the best natural harbors in the world. Originally Manhattan was a summer resort for the local Indian tribes. It has a major river on the west and a small river on the east.
The city lost nearly 78,000 residents in 2023, shrinking its population to 8.26 million people, according to the estimates, which were released on Thursday. In 2022, it lost more than 126,000 residents. From April 2020 to July 2023, the city lost almost 550,000 residents, or more than 6 percent of its population.
Introduction: My name is Terrell Hackett, I am a gleaming, brainy, courageous, helpful, healthy, cooperative, graceful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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