A recent study in the journal Science analyzed dozens of Chinese cities, revealing that they're slowly sinking. This phenomenon of the Earth's surface literally being pushed down — technically known as land subsidence — is not limited to the tens of millions who will be impacted in China. From California to Greece, human activity is making the land under our feet more prone to subsiding than ever.
The researchers behind the new paper, which was published in the journal Science, help illustrate this point. Using satellite observations taken from 2015 to 2022, the scientists analyzed land subsidence in 82 metropolises and found that 40% of the land is currently undergoing moderate to severe subsidence. This puts roughly one-third of China's entire urban population at significant risk of flooding.
