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Imagine Earth's surface is like a stack of pancakes. The pancakes, or layers of soil and rocks, may appear fairly evenly stacked and fluffy. Over time though, the stack can become compressed, thinner and shorter. Scientists observe this downward motion of land, called land subsidence, across the planet. While some regions of land experience uplift, many parts of Earth's surface are sinking - fast. Scientists are especially concerned for sinking locations near the coast, which are at a higher risk for flooding as sea levels rise in a warming world. Hurricanes and extreme rainfall events can also bring more damage...

Researchers studying Dublin Bay have said recent sea level rise there has happened at “approximately double the rate of global sea level rise”. The study examined sea level trends over eight decades and confirmed elevated rates in recent years. Researchers at the Hamilton Institute and ICARUS Climate Research Center at Maynooth University found that the Dublin sea level rose by an estimated 1.1 mm per year between 1953 and 2016. Researchers said the overall sea level rise is “in line with expected trends”, but large variability across many decades has led to higher rates in recent years. The research published...

The historic squares of Venice were left deep underwater on Wednesday after most of the tourist mecca was inundated by the second-highest levels of flooding ever recorded, sending water into the historic basilica as more bad weather is in the forecast. ...more than 85% of the city was flooded, with water overtaking the famed St. Mark's Basilica, raising new concerns over damage to the mosaics and other artworks. Brugnaro, who described the situation as dramatic, said he would declare a disaster zone and ask the government to call a state of emergency.

For years, the Houston area has been losing ground By John D. HardenMay 28, 2016Houston is sinking - and has been for decades.As torrential rains have pounded the city in consecutive years, leading to repeated, heavy and deadly flooding, this inconvenient fact contributes to the region's misery.Parts of Harris County have dropped between 10 and 12 feet since the 1920s, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey.State and local officials have made various efforts over the past 40 years to stabilize the ground, but some areas continue to sink - by as much as 2 inches per year.Spring Branch,...

The boot-shaped state isnÂ’t shaped like a boot anymore. ThatÂ’s why we revised its iconic outline to reflect the truth about a sinking, disappearing place. By Brett AndersonSeptember 8, 2014 Photographs by William Widmer Illustrations by Matthew Woodson Early this year, I drove from Arnaudville, Louisiana, to Morgan City, hoping to walk where IÂ’d heard there was land. Arnaudville is in Cajun country, in the southern part of the state. Morgan City is roughly halfway between Lafayette and New Orleans, if you take the Highway 90 route. Directionally speaking, thatÂ’s all I knew. I was aware Arnaudville is just outside...

Report comes after North Carolina senate proposes bill to ban predictions of increase in rates of sea-level rise. Research from the US Geological Survey (USGS) shows that sea levels are rising much faster between North Carolina and Massachusetts than anywhere else in the world. The news comes less than two weeks after North Carolina's Senate passed a bill banning state agencies from reporting predictions of increasing rates of sea-level rise. Asbury Sallenger, an oceanographer at the USGS in St Petersburg, Florida, and his colleagues published their report today in Nature Climate Change1. They analysed tide-gauge records from around North America...

More than 80 vehicles stranded by subsidence on Tibet highway www.chinaview.cn 2007-07-20 21:52:07 Adjust font size: LHASA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- More than 80 vehicles have stranded on a highway by serious subsidence triggered by rainstorms in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. The subsidence occurred at about 5:00 p.m. on Friday on nine kilometers of State Highway 318 that links Tibet with neighboring Sichuan Province, said sources with the traffic management arm of the People's Armed Police. More than 10,000 cubic meters of the highway bed had sunk in the Mangkam county in eastern Tibet's Qamdo prefecture. Repair work is...

Court brief seeks to include all basin well owners in case Two large carrot farms are pumping more water from their wells since suing a number of water districts over the districts' usage of the Antelope Valley groundwater basin, claim Los Angeles County attorneys in a brief filed in Riverside Superior Court. Because of the allegedly excessive pumping, water is being pulled out from the basin faster than the natural recharge rate, a dangerous condition that has contributed to ground subsidence around Lancaster, said Fred Pfaeffle, the county lawyer handling the case. "If you look carefully through the numbers in...

Cities across China are sinking, including the capital Beijing, which has set up a warning system that state media said would act as an alert to ensure Olympics venues were not affected. According to Beijing vice-mayor Lu Hao, subsidence poses "a major threat" to the host of the 2008 Games, where infrastructure is being built at a rapid rate. To date, more than 1 800km² in Beijing have been hit, with about 50 places destroyed, including factories, buildings and ground pipelines, said Wei Lianwei, director of Beijing Institute of Geological Survey. The biggest drop was 722mm, the China Daily reported....