Scientists say New York City is sinking up to four millimetres a year the weight of all its skyscrapers. A team of geophysicists the United States Geological Survey calculated that there are 1,084,954 buildings the city, weighing 764 billion kilograms. This weight does not include fixtures and fittings buildings, the transport infrastructure, or the weight the city's 8.5 million inhabitants. Lead researcher Dr Tom Parsons said the gradual subsidence, coupled rising sea levels, could make New York prone to natural disasters. He warned that "every additional high-rise building could contribute future flood risk," especially coastal and riverfront areas.
The researchers compared what is happening to New York to the problems Venice and Jakarta are having. Venice is experiencing more floods despite the construction a $5.3 billion system sea walls. Indonesia is building a new capital city scratch because Jakarta is sinking. The United Nations has forecast that 70 per cent the world's population will inhabit cities 2050. Parsons said: "When you build a city and it gets full people, you end up subsidence." He warned that New York City was "emblematic a place that people migrate to and that obviously has a high concentration construction." Increasing urbanisation will exacerbate problems cities.
