Why are major cities in China sinking 'rapidly'?
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Jun 2024
By 2120, around a quarter of China’s coastal land could be below the sea-level according to a research paper published in the scientific journal Science.
The new study published in April 2024 says the northern city of Tianjin, home to more than 15m people, has been identified as one of the worst-hit. Last year, 3,000 residents were evacuated after a sudden geological disaster in the city.
The study reveals that one in ten residents of China’s coastal cities could be living below sea level within a century, because of land subsidence and climate change. Also, around 16% of the mapped area of China’s major cities is sinking ‘rapidly’ – faster than 10mm every year. An even greater area, roughly 45%, is sinking at a ‘moderate’ rate, a downward trajectory greater than 3mm annually.
The situation could see one-quarter of China’s coastal lands slip below sea level within a few decades, posing “serious threats” to the hundreds of millions of people who live on the coast. A