It almost seems like common sense. If you go to the edge of the land along the water and keep building on that edge, eventually the land will start to sink.
It appears to be happening all over the East Coast, including Atlantic City, New Jersey.
12 East Coast cities included in sinking investigation
In an article published in Oxford Academic, the University of Oxford’s academic research platform, three scientists take a closer look at the possibility that 12 east coast cities are slowly sinking.
Authors and scientists took a closer look at factors that may be causing subsidence, including buildings, infrastructure, and population density.
Subsidence of these cities puts coastal areas at risk
The scientific paper states that urban subsidence causes potential problems such as flooding and erosion.
These hazards can put people, property, and assets in the area at risk.
What’s going on in Atlantic City?
Most studies of 12 cities show subsidence of about 1 millimeter (millimetre) per year, but parts of Atlantic City were found to be sinking at a much faster rate of 4 mm per year.
Other cities participating in the study
In addition to Atlantic City, other East Coast cities included in the study are New York, Baltimore, Norfolk, Boston, Providence, New Haven, Wilmington, North Carolina, Charleston, Miami, Jacksonville, and Savannah.
More information available
The original article contains a large amount of data, graphs, and information. You can read the article here.
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