From New York to Houston, major US cities are sinking

New York, Dallas, Seattle, Houston: 28 major US cities are sinking with groundwater subsidence ranging from 2 to 10 millimeters per year , mainly due to the extraction of water from underground aquifers . This subsidence phenomenon, highlighted by satellite radar measurements , affects urban areas inhabited by a total of 34 million people, approximately 12% of the total population of the United States . This is indicated by a study published in Nature Cities by an international research group led by Virginia Tech.

In each city surveyed, at least 20% of the urban area is subsiding; in 25 of the 28 cities, at least 65% is sinking . Cities such as New York, Chicago, Seattle, and Denver are sinking at about 2 millimeters (0.08 inches) per year. The fastest-sinking city is Houston, with over 40% of its area sinking at more than 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) per year, and 12% sinking at twice that rate. Some localized spots are subsiding as much as 5 centimeters (2 inches) per year. Also in Texas , where subsidence is exacerbated by oil and gas extraction, two other cities (Fort Worth and Dallas) are in a similar situation. Other localized areas of rapid subsidence include the areas around New York's LaGuardia Airport and parts of Las Vegas, Washington, and San Francisco.

The fact that localized areas are sinking faster than adjacent areas causes the ground to move unevenly, potentially destabilizing buildings and infrastructure such as roads, bridges and dams. This is especially true in Houston, New York, Las Vegas and Washington. “The latent nature of this risk means that infrastructure can be silently compromised over time, with damage only becoming apparent when it is severe or potentially catastrophic,” says researcher Manoochehr Shirzaei.

"This risk is often exacerbated in rapidly expanding urban centers ," where growing demand for freshwater is depleting aquifers faster than they can be replenished, impacting land stability. Shirzai says the combined effect of changing weather patterns and population growth is potentially accelerating rates of subsidence and turning previously stable urban areas into zones vulnerable to flooding, infrastructure failure, and land degradation in the long term.