Many cities are slowly sinking underground due to excessive groundwater pumping. This poses a threat to coastal areas, as the resulting land subsidence increases the risk of flooding as sea levels rise.
Hot Topics
About half of Libyans drink contaminated water What is the scientific reason?
Mauritania's blue treasure is in danger Will the map of fish in the Atlantic be redrawn?
The Citrus Secret Everyone's Talking About: Burn More, Crave Less & Feel Great Naturally
It is reported that the groundwater level beneath it dropped by 30 meters between the 1920s and 1960s, causing the land to sink by more than two meters in some places. After strict regulations were imposed on water pumping, groundwater levels began to rise again.
Land subsidence is affecting many major cities around the world.
The land in some areas of Jakarta is sinking by more than 10 centimeters per year, prompting the Indonesian government to consider moving the capital.
The Chinese port city of Tianjin, with a population of approximately 15 million, is one of the hotspots for land subsidence. If this process continues unabated, 15% of the city's population could be underwater by 2120.
Similar stories are unfolding from San Diego to major cities in Iran, and in all cases it is linked to pumping groundwater at a rate that exceeds its capacity to replenish it.
Recent studies have shown that up to 80% of New Zealand’s urban coastline is experiencing subsidence, which in the cities of Wellington and Christchurch may be linked to groundwater depletion.
But the Osaka experiment in Japan showed that it is not only possible to stop this process, but also to partially reverse it.
Scientists compared data from 44 wells with satellite radar data. Since the 1970s, the land had stopped subsiding, and since 1996 it has been rising at an average rate of 4 millimeters per year, reaching as high as 12 millimeters in some areas. The faster the water level rises, the faster the land rises.
The differences are explained by the presence of underground faults that act as underground dams and hold back the water.
The key takeaway, important for cities stretching from Indonesia’s Jakarta to China’s Tianjin, is that sound management of groundwater can stop land subsidence.
The study was published in the journal "Communications Earth & Environment".
what is your opinion on this news ?do let us know in the comments on tha comment box
if you liked this news article please share on friends & family & don't forget to follow on website & social media