44 of the 48 largest coastal cities are sinking faster than sea-level rise

As melting ice around the world causes an increase in sea levels, many coastal cities also face rapid land subsidence—where land sinks due to the removal of groundwater or compresses from the massive weight of cities above it.

In a recent study published in Nature Sustainability, researchers used satellite-based radar to measure the degree of relative land subsidence for 48 of the largest coastal cities in the world. They found that nearly all of the cities studied are experiencing some degree of land subsidence and in 44 of them, some areas are sinking at a much faster rate than the sea is rising.