Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Washington DC sinking fast, adding to threat of sea-level rise
New research confirms that the land under the Chesapeake Bay is sinking rapidly and projects that Washington, D.C., could drop by six or more inches in the next century--adding to the problems of sea-level rise.
This falling land will exacerbate the flooding that the nation's capital faces from rising ocean waters due to a warming climate and melting ice sheets--accelerating the threat to the region's monuments, roads, wildlife refuges, and military installations.
For sixty years, tide gauges have shown that sea level in the Chesapeake is rising at twice the global average rate and faster than elsewhere on the East Coast. And geologists have hypothesized for several decades that land in this area, pushed up by the weight of a pre-historic ice sheet to the north, has been settling back down since the ice melted.
The new study--based on extensive drilling in the coastal plain of Maryland--confirms this hypothesis, and provides a firm estimate of how quickly this drop is happening. Additionally, the researchers' detailed field data make clear that the land sinking around Washington is not primarily driven by human influence, such as groundwater withdrawals, but instead is a long-term geological process that will continue unabated for tens of thousands of years, independent from human land use or climate change.
...more...http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150728101212.htm
Washington, DC; US Capitol Building. Falling land will exacerbate the flooding that the nation's capital faces from rising ocean waters due to a warming climate and melting ice sheets -- accelerating the threat to the region's monuments.
Credit: © adamparent / Fotolia
This falling land will exacerbate the flooding that the nation's capital faces from rising ocean waters due to a warming climate and melting ice sheets--accelerating the threat to the region's monuments, roads, wildlife refuges, and military installations.
For sixty years, tide gauges have shown that sea level in the Chesapeake is rising at twice the global average rate and faster than elsewhere on the East Coast. And geologists have hypothesized for several decades that land in this area, pushed up by the weight of a pre-historic ice sheet to the north, has been settling back down since the ice melted.
The new study--based on extensive drilling in the coastal plain of Maryland--confirms this hypothesis, and provides a firm estimate of how quickly this drop is happening. Additionally, the researchers' detailed field data make clear that the land sinking around Washington is not primarily driven by human influence, such as groundwater withdrawals, but instead is a long-term geological process that will continue unabated for tens of thousands of years, independent from human land use or climate change.
...more...http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150728101212.htm
Washington, DC; US Capitol Building. Falling land will exacerbate the flooding that the nation's capital faces from rising ocean waters due to a warming climate and melting ice sheets -- accelerating the threat to the region's monuments.
Credit: © adamparent / Fotolia
12 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
