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THESE NEIGHBORHOODS IN NEW YORK CITY ARE SINKING THE FASTEST, ACCORDING TO A NEW
STUDY

The sinking is due to a process known as glacial isostatic adjustment.

By
Julia Jacobo
September 27, 2023, 2:02 PM ET
• 6 min read

Can New York City adapt to rapidly rising sea levels?As sea levels rise at
faster rates, coastal communities around the world face an existential dilemma:
adapt or leave. That’s the case in New York City.STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images

New York City is sinking at the same time that sea levels around the world are
rising, which could exacerbate flooding concerns for the region.

Researchers have found a way to determine exactly which regions in the New York
City metropolitan area are sinking the fastest, according to a study by NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Rutgers' University Department of Earth and
Planetary Sciences published Wednesday in Science.


MORE: Climate Week NYC: Large cities are at the forefront of climate change,
experts say

New York City is sinking at a subsidence rate of about 1.6 millimeters per year,
the researchers discovered, using a new technique of modeling using
Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and the Global Navigation
Satellite System to determine the "hot spots" that are sinking the fastest.

The neighborhoods in New York City that saw the most rapid vertical land motion
from 2016 to 2023 were LaGuardia Airport and Arthur Ashe Stadium, where the U.S.
Open takes place -- both located in Queens, according to the study.


A general view of Arthur Ashe Stadium, Sept. 5, 2016 in the Flushing
neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.Al Bello/Getty Images, FILE

When the Arthur Ashe Stadium was first built, it was outfitted with a
lightweight cloth roof because the sinking land beneath the stadium could not
support the weight of a regularly constructed roof, Brett Buzzanga, a post
doctoral researcher at JPL and the California Institute of Technology, told ABC
News.

Additionally, outside of New York City, Highway 440 and Interstate 78 were found
to be sinking at faster rates than the surrounding areas, the research suggests.


MORE: How rising sea levels will affect New York City, America's most populous
city

The sinking is occurring due to a geological process known as glacial isostatic
adjustment, Buzzanga said.

About 20,000 years ago, the northern half of North America was covered in a
gigantic ice cap, and once that ice began to melt, the suppressed land that lied
beneath began to rise up.


Aerial shot of Laguardia AirportSTOCK PHOTO/Getty Images

Over time, the land is reverting to its original shape and sinking down.

In addition, the mass removal of water from underground aquifers could be
contributing to the increased sinking, Buzzanga said.

MORE: Sinkholes appear in Florida neighborhood after Hurricane Irma's heavy
rains

Notably, all of the sinking hotspots previously served as landfills in the past,
according to the paper.

The area surrounding LaGuardia was used as a landfill in the 1930s and 1940s,
Buzzanga said.


Highway 440 flooded in Jersey City of New Jersey, Sept. 2, 2021 as hundreds of
cars stuck in water as Hurricane Ida left behind flash floods east coast.Tayfun
Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images, FILE

The process of land sinking is not a direct impact of climate change, these
regions will be more susceptible to flooding from sea level rise in the future,
Buzzanga said.

Conversely, the research revealed "interesting" areas of uplift, David Bekaert,
a radar scientist at JPL, told ABC News. One of these regions includes East
Williamsburg's Newton Creek, which corresponded with a massive engineering
project to remove pollution from the creek's aquifer.

The research did not reveal the exact causal reason for the other areas of
uplift, Buzzanga said.

The findings can help city planners make the best decisions for investments in
coastal defenses and infrastructure, the researchers said.

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