“Put some more buildings on top”: Netizens react as research suggests that New York might be sinking due to the weight of the skyscrapers

New York is possibly facing a big danger as new research has revealed that the city is sinking due to the increasing number of skyscrapers and their weight. Tom Parsons, the lead researcher and geologist of the United States Geological Survey, said that the situation might contribute to the emergence of natural disasters in the future.

The report by Parsons states that the city is yet to battle the worse in terms of flooding since the danger of the rise of sea level is more than the global average along the Atlantic coast of North America. It also stated:

"A deeply concentrated population of 8.4 million people faces varying degrees of hazard from inundation in New York City."

Reading the latest developments regarding the possibility of flooding in the city, several netizens have taken to online platforms such as Twitter to comment on the issue. One user, @ChoralReave, sarcastically tweeted to the news by suggesting that the city planners should add more buildings on top of the ones already existing to weigh down the city further, risking a quicker chance of natural disasters.

A reaction to the report of NYC sinking due to skyscrapers (Image via ChoralReave/Twitter)

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Size of the buildings in New York City can prove to be a threat in the future

Tom Parsons' report addressed the damage caused by hurricanes over the years in New York City. This includes Hurricane Sandy in 2012, following which sea water entered the city, and Hurricane Ida in 2021, which had a bad impact on the drainage system.

Parsons clearly expressed his concern regarding the structural integrity of the buildings inside the city which can prove to be dangerous. He stated:

"The combination of tectonic and anthopogenic subsidence, sea level rise, and increasing hurricane intensity imply an accelerating problem along coastal and riverfront areas."

According to Parsons, the city might have to confront a storm, and greenhouse gas seems to have decreased the natural wind shear barrier along the US East Coast, which would lead to worse consequences in the future in case a hurricane hits the city.

He mentioned that the buildings constructed after Hurricane Sandy are not putting emphasis on the consequences and that they "have not been built to floodplain standards." Parsons added:

"New York is emblematic of growing coastal cities all over the world that are observed to be subsiding, meaning there is a shared global challenge of mitigarion against a growing inundation hazard."

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Some netizens sarcastically react to the reports of New York City sinking because of skyscrapers by making jokes out of it

The reports of New York City sinking due to high-rise buildings have already gone viral on different platforms. While netizens are reading everything that has been predicted based on the research, they have also reacted to the same on social media.

According to researchers, the total weight of the buildings located inside the city sums up to 1.68 trillion pounds, which is equal to around 140 million elephants. Although Tom Parsons has warned about the risk of inundation from flooding, he said that no one needs to panic for now, saying:

"The softer the soil, the more compression there is from the buildings. It wasn't a mistake to build such large buildings in New York but we've just got to keep in mind every time you build something there you push down the ground a little bit more."

The places that are most likely to get affected for now include Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. UN has predicted that the number of urban area residents is expected to rise by 68% by 2050. In such a situation, the authorities must take measures to save the city from sinking.