Areas in the Golden State are sinking. That’s bad news for coastal cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles.
According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the study identifies specific areas of California where the ground is moving upward or downward. These motions, known as vertical land motion, are triggered by both natural and human causes, such as tectonic plate movements or groundwater pumping.
The study’s lead author, Marin Govorcin, a remote sensing scientist at JPL, says in a statement, “In many parts of the world, like the reclaimed ground beneath San Francisco, the land is moving down faster than the sea itself is going up.”
Movements of California’s landscape
The Central Valley is experiencing the most severe land dropping in the state, with the earth sinking up to 8 inches annually as a result of groundwater extraction during the drought, according to the statement. With areas in the Bay Area near San Francisco dipping more than 0.4 inches per year.
There are also several areas considered hotspots for coastal sinking.
“By 2050, sea levels in California are expected to increase to between 6 and 14.5 inches (15 and 37 centimeters) higher than year 2000 levels,” according to the statement.
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Areas in Southern California slowly sliding toward the ocean
Heavy rainfall and erosion are most likely to blame for the slow-moving landslides that are pushing the Palos Verdes Peninsula toward the ocean.
The study found that the region, long understood to be extremely landslide-prone, moved by 16 inches toward the ocean during four weeks last fall when researchers used radar during aerial flights to measure the movement. That’s a rate of about 4 inches every week.
“The speed is more than enough to put human life and infrastructure at risk,” Alexander Handwerger, who performed the JPL analysis, said in a news release.
Not all Californian coastal areas are moving lower. The Santa Barbara groundwater basin, which has been continuously replenishing since 2018, has rising areas of several millimeters per year, according to the researchers’ mapping. Uplift was also seen in Long Beach, where fluid extraction and injection occur with oil and gas production.
It’s not just California that’s sinking
Parts of Hawaii, Chicago and New York City are among the other sites that are sinking as a result of shifting or settling earth and the weight of their skyscrapers.
NASA’s scientists continue to monitor coastal areas to better understand how local elevation changes can help communities adapt to rising sea levels.
CONTRIBUTING: Jeanine Santucci.
SOURCE NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Earth Observatory, California Geological Survey, LiveScience.com, Smithsonian Magazine and USA TODAY research
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