NASA: Parts Of New York State Is ‘Sinking’

Many people are concerned because new images show parts of the Empire State are sinking.

NASA shared new satellite data that shows that the land major East Coast cities are built on is "sinking."

NASA: East Coast Is Sinking

"Critical infrastructure is threatened as sinking land amplifies global sea level rise," NASA said about "America’s Sinking East Coast."

Researchers looked at recent satellite data and ground-based GPS sensors to map the vertical and horizontal motion of coastal land from New England to Florida.

"At least 867,000 properties and critical infrastructure including several highways, railways, airports, dams, and levees were all subsiding," NASA stated.

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Another Study Agrees, East Coast Is Sinking

NASA's study confirmed findings from a previous study from the EOI Lab. That study determined that East Coast marshes and wetlands, which are critical for protecting many cities from storm surges during hurricanes, were sinking by rates exceeding 3 millimeters per year.

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"Ghost Forests" All Over East Coast

That study also confirmed "ghost forests" across the East Coast.

"They found that at least 8 percent of coastal forests had been displaced due to subsidence and saltwater intrusion, leading to a proliferation of 'ghost forests,' NASA states.

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What Can Be Done?

Manoochehr Shirzaei, a co-author on both studies and director of the EOI Lab, gave a small amount of "good news" to people concerned by this news.

"The good news is that subsidence is a problem that we can slow at local scales to some degree," Shirzaei said.