Coastal Chinese cities face a looming threat: by 2120, one in 10 residents may reside below sea level. Subsidence, the gradual sinking of soil, coupled with rising sea levels due to climate change, is affecting 45% of China’s major urban centers at a steady pace.
This revelation stems from a study published in “Science“, by a group of researchers from Peking University, led by Tao Shengli.
Examining soil elevation changes across 82 Chinese cities between 2015 and 2022 using satellite radar technology. The study revealed alarming trends. Approximately 22-26% of China’s coastal metropolises could sink below sea level within a few decades, imperiling the lives of hundreds of millions of inhabitants.
The primary culprits behind this subsidence are resource extraction activities such as water and rock extraction from beneath the earth’s surface. To mitigate this long-term threat, the study’s authors advocate for stringent regulation of underground water extraction.
However, China isn’t alone in facing this challenge. Coastal cities worldwide are grappling with subsidence, often outpacing the rate of sea level rise, as highlighted in a 2022 study from the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, USA.
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