Alarm in New York: The city that never sleeps is sinking!
According to a study by the “American Geophysical Union” (AGU; available from BILD), the famous skyscrapers of the “Big Apple” are to blame.
In the AGU report, the researchers conclude that global sea-level rise is not a good mix for New York’s towering skyscrapers.
According to AGU, sea levels are expected to rise by 200-600 mm by 2050.
The problem: As sea levels rise, New York’s roughly one million buildings, weighing 771 million tons, are pressed into a subsoil that can’t support the weight for long.
The city of more than eight million people is currently sinking by up to two millimeters a year. Some parts of New York are sinking very fast. Also: Cities sink four times faster than less built-up areas.
While 1-2 millimeters per year may not seem like much at first, that rate makes the city more vulnerable to natural disasters, says lead researcher and geologist Tom Parsons.
Natural disasters threaten New York
Risk Factor Nature: Weight is not the only problem – natural disasters can eat away at the material of a house’s foundation.
The town is one to two meters above sea level and has suffered repeated floods in recent years.
► New York is flooding more often: The city is third in the world most vulnerable to future coastal flooding.
This is especially dangerous because: Building foundations repeatedly exposed to salt water weaken due to erosion and sink further than before.
AGU researchers note that the major risks of natural disasters in new buildings after the devastating Hurricane Sandy in 2012 were apparently not taken into account. “90 percent of the 67,400 buildings in floodplains that expanded after Hurricane Sandy were not built to floodplain standards.”
► Another risk factor: Greenhouse gases in the “Big Apple” “appear to reduce the natural wind shear barrier along the US East Coast, allowing for more frequent high-intensity hurricane events in coming decades,” the researchers explain. their studies.
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