Voice of America
24 Sep 2022, 06:09 GMT+10
New Delhi, India - Sprawling coastal cities in South and Southeast Asia are sinking faster than elsewhere in the world, leaving tens of millions of people more vulnerable to rising sea levels, a new study says.
Rapid urbanization has seen these cities draw heavily on groundwater to service their burgeoning populations, according to research by Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, published in the journal Nature Sustainability last week.
'This puts cities experiencing rapid local land subsidence at greater risk of coastal hazards than already present due to climate-driven sea-level rise,' the study says.
Vietnam's most populous urban center and main business hub, Ho Chi Minh City, was sinking an average of 16.2 millimeters (0.6 inches) annually, topping the study's survey of satellite data from 48 large coastal cities around the world.
The southern Bangladeshi port of Chittagong was second on the list, with the western Indian city Ahmedabad, Indonesian capital Jakarta and Myanmar's commercial hub Yangon also sinking more than 20 millimeters in peak years.
'Many of these fast-subsiding coastal cities are rapidly expanding megacities, where ... high demands for groundwater extraction and loading from densely constructed building structures, contribute to local land subsidence,' the study says.
Sinking cities are not of themselves a result of climate change, but researchers said their work would give a better insight into how the phenomenon would 'compound the effects of climate-driven mean sea-level rise.'
More than 1 billion people will live in coastal cities at risk of rising sea levels by 2050, according to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The IPCC says that global sea levels could rise by up to 60 centimeters (24 inches) by the end of the century, even if greenhouse gas emissions are sharply reduced.
Get a daily dose of Northern Ireland News news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Northern Ireland News.
More InformationLONDON, UK: In a deal aimed at securing the future of the British steel industry, the United Kingdom (UK) government ...
Vredepeel, Netherlands - A small drone flits over opened earth, and an explosion appears on the video feed.The drone has ...
COSTA DA CAPARICA, Portugal - Sofia Oliveira was 12 years old when catastrophic wildfires in central Portugal killed more than ...
New York [US], September 24 (ANI): Wading into the ongoing diplomatic showdown between India and Canada, David Cohen, the US ...
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov castigated Ukraine's proposed 10-point peace plan and spurned a revival of the Black Sea Grain ...
(Photo credit: Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports) World No. 10 Alexander Zverev of Germany defeated unseeded Pavel Kotov of Russia 7-6 ...
BATAM, Indonesia: Due to mounting geopolitical tensions and protests against China's activities in the South China Sea, ASEAN member nations ...
FREMONT, California: This week, brain-chip startup Neuralink, owned by billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk, said an independent review board granted ...
BOSTON, Massachusetts: Officials said that a Delta flight from Chicago to Boston that was possibly struck by lightning landed safely ...
JAKARTA, Indonesia: An Indonesian court sentenced Lina Lutfiawati, also known as Lina Mukherjee, to two years in prison this week ...
HONG KONG: The Chinese Foreign Ministry has issued a request to all foreign consulates in Hong Kong, seeking the personal ...
MARTIN COUNTY, Florida: An Amazon driver making a delivery to a Florida home this week was bitten by a rattlesnake ...