Subsidence linked to extraction of groundwater and natural gas, and weight of buildings pressing into soft ground
A number of cities on the US east coast are sinking, increasing the risk of flooding from rising sea levels.
Between 2007 and 2020 the ground under New York, Baltimore and Norfolk in Virginia sank between 1mm and 2mm a year, other places sank at double or triple that rate, and Charleston, South Carolina, sank fastest, at 4mm a year, in a city less than 3 metres above sea level.
