NYC is sinking under the weight of its skyscrapers, new study warns

New York City‘s skyscraper skyline is iconic, but it may be causing the Big Apple to sink, a new study suggests.According to research published by the scientific journal Earth’s Future, the cumulative 1.68 trillion-pound weight of New York City’s buildings is causing the city to sink about one to two millimetres per year on average.The “subsidence rate” — the scientific term for the speed of sinking — was observed by three University of Rhode Island oceanologists and a researcher from the U.S.

Geological Survey. In order to measure the rate of New York City’s apparent sinking, researchers created geographic models to exhibit the downward pressure of heavy buildings on the bedrock, clay, sand and silt underneath some of the region.Researchers claimed Lower Manhattan – a veritable concrete jungle – is at a greater risk of sinking than most other areas of the city.

As is, much of Lower Manhattan sits only one to two meters above the current sea level.Parts of Brooklyn and Queens are also experiencing higher subsidence rates than other parts of New York City.Though a one or two millimetre decline per year may not seem like much, researchers warned the city’s shift worsens the threat of flooding in the region, especially amid already rising sea levels.“New York faces significant challenges from flood hazard; the threat of sea level rise is 3 to 4 times higher than the global average along the Atlantic coast of North America,” researchers wrote. “A deeply concentrated population of 8.4 million people faces varying degrees of hazard from inundation in New York City.”New York City has already faced flooding in the past, namely from Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and Hurricane Ida in 2021 — the latter of which led to the drowning deaths.