NYC's sinking - 19th June 2023

Researchers discovered that New York City is sinking into the ocean. The weight of its tall buildings is causing this. They say that the city's sinking one to two millimetres every year. This is because the soil is moving. Usually, soil moves during mineral or oil mining. But in this situation, it's the weight of the large buildings. This is called settlement.

In the 19th century, New York City was growing quickly. City planners decided to build up instead of out. The city's first skyscraper, Tower Building, was constructed in 1889. Today, there are 274 of them.

Much of New York City’s built on clay soil. Clay has the highest possibility for soil movement.

Today, New York City is home to 8.4 million residents. They are all at risk of flooding and other natural disasters. The few millimetres of soil movement may appear harmless. But with rising sea levels, New York City could look like Venice, Italy.

Other cities around the world are also suffering from a similar problem. Experts predict that by 2050, 70 percent of the global population will be living in cities. So, it's important to carefully plan where and how we build our cities.