These 11 towns that are sinking might not be around in 2100.
Sea levels and temps are going up around the world. Coastal towns that are low to the ground are already dealing with terrible floods and are trying to think of creative ways to stop the tides from rising.
Some cities are sinking because the sea is slowly rising and covering their shores, and other cities are sinking because too much groundwater pumping changes the pressure and amount of the water, which makes the land sink.
places in Danger of Going Under: These are 11 places that are in danger of going under.
1. Jakarta, Indonesia
Too much groundwater pumping is causing Jakarta to sink up to 6.7 inches per year. This is because it changes the pressure and amount of the water, which makes the land sink. By 2050, a lot of the city might be drowned.
The Indonesian government just recently agreed to move the capital 100 miles away from where it is now on the island of Java. This will keep the 10 million people who live there from more floods. It will cost $33 billion and take 10 years to move.
Find out more:Indonesia wants to move its capital hundreds of miles away, but it will cost $33 billion to do so. Here is a picture of the under-water city.
2. Lagos, Nigeria
The low coastline around Lagos keeps wearing away, and the rising seas caused by climate change put the biggest city in Africa at risk of floods.
The University of Plymouth did a study in 2012 that said a rise in sea level of three to nine feet would “have a catastrophic effect on the human activities in these regions.” By the end of this century, the sea level around the world is expected to rise 6.6 feet.
3. Texas City, Houston
Too much groundwater pumping is causing parts of Houston to sink at a rate of 2 inches per year.
Houston is becoming more and more sensitive to disasters like Hurricane Harvey, which damaged about 135,000 homes and forced about 30,000 people to leave their homes.
4. Bangladesh’s Dhaka
The New York Times says that Bangladesh is one of the places where rising sea levels are having the most serious effects. This is because 0.3% of the emissions that cause climate change are coming from Bangladesh.
Since the oceans could flood 17% of Bangladesh’s land, about 18 million people could have to leave their homes by 2050.
5. Italy’s Venice
Every year, 0.08 inches of water sinks into Venice.
In 2003, Italy started building a flood wall with 78 gates that would go across its three inlets. It’s called Mose. The barrier wasn’t meant to be finished until 2011, but it probably won’t be until 2022.
In 2018, Venice was hit by a series of storms that left the $6.5 billion project unfinished. The city had never seen floods that bad in ten years.
Find out more:A sea wall worth $6.5 billion was meant to keep Venice from flooding. Most of the city is now under water.
6. Virginia Beach, Virginia
When you look at both rising water and falling land, Virginia Beach has one of the fastest rates of sea level rise on the East Coast.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that by 2100, the sea level could rise up to 12 feet in Virginia Beach.
7. Thailand’s Bangkok
The Guardian says that Bangkok is sinking more than 1 centimetre a year and could be below sea level by 2030.
Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park is an 11-acre park that was built by an architecture company to help keep areas from flooding, especially during Thailand’s summer rainy season. It can hold up to 1 million gallons of rainwater.
Find out more:Because Bangkok is sinking, a park was made to hold a million gallons of rainwater and keep the city from flooding.
8. Louisiana’s New Orleans
A 2016 NASA study says that parts of New Orleans are sinking at a rate of 2 inches per year and that the whole city might be underwater by 2100.
Some parts of New Orleans are also 15 feet below sea level, and the city’s location on a river delta makes it more likely that the water will rise and flood.
9. Rotterdam, Netherlands
A report in The New York Times says that 90% of Rotterdam’s city centre is below sea level. When the water level rises, there is a greater chance of flooding.
The Dutch have built “water parks” like Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park. These parks serve as both huge storm surge barriers and storage for rising water levels as part of a project called Room for the River.
10. Alexandria in Egypt
Alexandria’s beaches are going away because the water level is rising. NPR says that by 2100, the Mediterranean Sea could rise up to 2 feet.
11. Florida’s Miami
Author of books about the environment Jeff Goodell told Business Insider that “there’s almost no scenario under which you can imagine [Miami] existing at the end of the century” and that it was “the poster child for a major city in big trouble.”
The sea level is rising faster in Miami than in other parts of the world. This is causing flooding, dirty drinking water, and a lot of damage to houses and roads.
Things in the city might have to be raised soon to stay above water.
