Jakarta isn’t just the only city in the world that’s reportedly been sinking.
CNN cited the cities of Houston in Texas, Lagos in Nigeria, New Orleans in Louisiana, Beijing in China, and Washington DC in the United States as among the other cities that are sinking too.
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Greater Jakarta area had sunk 4m in the last 30 years while North Jakarta reportedly sunk by an alarming 2.5m in the last 10 years alone.
“At that rate, 95% of north Jakarta will be underwater by 2050, directly impacting 1.8 million of the city’s 10 million people,” WEF said in a report published on Aug. 15.
According to the same WEF report, NASA has been tracking sea levels thru its satellite since 1993 and it detected a rise of about 85mm in that time. There’s also an increase of 3.2mm per year at current rates.
Another contributing factor in Jakarta’s sinking is the continuous pumping of underground aquifers. This led to the ground beneath to compacting and collapsing.
Sea level rise also threatens the city of Lagos in Nigeria. Apart from its coastline already eroding, there has been a recorded sea-level rise of 3 to 9 feet, according to a study in 2012.
A separate study this year also found that global sea levels could rise over 6 feet (2 meters) by the end of this century.
Another city, which is sinking because of rising sea levels, is New Orleans. The city is built on loose soil and was positioned so close to on the coast.
Scientists found that it is sinking at a rate of 0.39 inches or 1 centimeter a year.
Like Jakarta, Houston is also suffering from the exhaustion of its underground water supply. Hence, the reported sinking of between 10 and 12 feet since the 1920s, according to data from the US Geological Survey.
Even Beijing is sinking by as much as 4 inches in some areas per year.
Over extraction of its underground water supply is also the cause, similar to the cases of Jakarta and Houston.
Melting of the ice sheet has contributed to the rise of sea levels in Chesapeake Bay in Washington, DC.
According to research in 2015, the city will sink 6 inches in the next 100 years if the melting of the ice continues.
