New York City is literally reaching an all-time low.
A new study reveals dramatic concerns that the Big Apple, Long Island and many other Atlantic coastal areas face an inevitable risk of sinking at an alarming rate under the weight of buildings.
“It affects you, it affects me, it affects everyone. It may be gradual, but the effects are real,” said Manuchel Shirzaei, a professor and researcher at Virginia Tech. . Said.
Other metropolitan areas, such as Baltimore, Maryland, and Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Virginia, were also reported as coastal areas of concern due to land subsidence, making them prone to dangerous flooding.
New research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Scienceshighlights that the rate of subsidence, scientifically known as subsidence, occurs at a staggering rate of 2 millimeters per year in many areas.
The levels could affect 2 million people and 800,000 properties along the East Coast and “should cause concern,” lead author Leonard Owenhen added.
“For example, key areas of New York's critical infrastructure, such as JFK Airport and LaGuardia Airport, [their] Runways, like railway systems, are subject to subsidence rates of more than 2 millimeters per year. ”
A September study by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration found that LGA and the U.S. Open's Arthur Ashe Stadium area experienced drops of 3.7 and 4.6 millimeters per year between 2016 and 2023.
A video that went viral in September also captured scenes of major flooding at LaGuardia Airport, with passengers enduring ankle-deep water inside the airport.
A Virginia Tech study warns that more than 1,400 miles of land on the East Coast is sinking at a rate of more than 5 millimeters per year.
This is four times higher than the global sea level rise rate.
Many of these areas are already experiencing a plethora of subsidence-related problems due to increased flooding and high waves from severe storms and hurricanes. In other words, the lower the resistance, the easier water will penetrate.
“All climate change models indicate that storms and hurricanes will become more intense in the future,” Klaus Jacob, a professor emeritus at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, previously told the Post.
“That probably means stronger storm surges, higher storm surges, increased risk, and less protection for our cities.”
This week's nor'easter, which brought devastating amounts of flooding to coastal areas such as Long Island and Connecticut, is a clear example of these concerns.
But Jacob warns that the area at risk is much wider than just the neighboring tri-state area.
“Long Island, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, you name it,” he said. “From the Hudson Valley to Troy…I'd say anything that's 20 elevations.” [feet above sea level] The following are extreme risks. There is a slight risk between 20 and 30 feet elevation. ”
He believes that New York City, and especially downtown Manhattan, needs to be transformed into a modern-day Venice within the next century.
“If you want skyscrapers and other buildings to continue to function, they need to become little islands in the water,” Jacob said.
“We need to be serviced by amphibious boats, not wheeled taxis. Barges need to come pick up trash. And we need more High Lines to connect different buildings to each other. ”
As a relatively quick solution, the Army Corps of Engineers is proposing building a series of $52 billion seawalls around areas such as Manhattan and the Meadowlands.it has received bipartisan criticism.
“It's a finite period of time…Sooner or later, we will run out of means and ways to deal with these problems,” Jacob added. “Now, it's not going to happen tomorrow, it's going to happen decades from tomorrow.” [year] After 2100, the situation will become more serious. ”
