Top 7 Cities In Danger Of Sinking

A flooded city of the future

It may sound like the main subject of a script for a new SF movie about our future world but reality is harsh, and the fact that many of the world’s favorite destinations are in grave danger of sinking because of either the waters surrounding them or because of the constant changing and extreme weather, should not surprise us one bit.

We can not prove if the legend of the Atlantis is true or not but what we do know is that a fact becomes reality when be become witnesses to it and unfortunately, the next mentioned seven cities are really preparing to take the plunge.

Keep in mind when you are planning your next vacation that some of these locations have a ticking time which could stop any time now.

Bangkok is the capital, the largest urban area and the primary city of Thailand, known in Thai also as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon, meaning “city of angels”, while its wealth of cultural landmarks and attractions in addition to its notorious entertainment venues has made Bangkok synonymous with exoticism. The city’s rapid modernization is mainly reflected in the urban society and the cityscape, the numerous temples and palace complexes, as well as the notorious red-light districts, attracting millions of international visitors every year.

Bangkok is the 68th largest province in Thailand and the Chao Phraya River basin surrounding it gives Bangkok’s main geographical feature while the nearby provinces comprise a series of plains and river deltas that lead into the Bay of Bangkok about 30 km (19 mi) south of the city center.

Because of these features Bangkok is also known as the “Venice of the East” due to the number of canals and passages that divide the area into separate patches of land; these large bodies of water are also responsible with the rapid sinking of the city. The fragile foundation of the city is not the necessary to blame, especially since the Chao Phraya River basin makes this colossal settlement likely to drown in the near future.

Some experts stated that this interesting city may be under water in as little as seven years and according to Thai scientist Dr. Ajong Chumsai na Ayudhya, the fate of Bangkok can best be explained by global warming.

That basically means that humans were mainly to blame for such disasters because they were using up natural resources, chopping down forests and kept emitting greenhouse gases with no regard for the future, and all these dramatic changes will eventually leas to severe tsunamis in the Gulf of Thailand that will have extremely negative effects on the southern portion of the country.

New York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world, and as a leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over global commerce, finance, media, culture, art, fashion, research, education, and entertainment.

But, as powerful as it may be in the economic world, New York City is also a city bound to sink in the next few decades.

Just like Thailand’s capital, America’s most densely populated city is doomed to suffer the effects of global warming, and the geographical location, on a large natural harbor on the Atlantic coast of the Northeastern United States and at the mouth of the Hudson River, doesn’t make things much easier.

The city also consists of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island, and the Hudson River which feeds into a naturally sheltered harbor and then into the Atlantic Ocean, has also helped the city grow in significance as a trading city, but today acts like a double-edge sword. The Hudson River flows through the Hudson Valley into New York Bay and separated the city from New Jersey, while the East River, a tidal strait, flows from Long Island Sound and separates the Bronx and Manhattan from Long Island.

Much of New York is built on the three islands of Manhattan, Staten Island, and Long Island, making land scarce and encouraging a high population density, but as some experts have already stated these large bodies of water will affect this concrete jungle, increasing the risk of damage from rising sea levels and imposing tropical storms.

Science Daily reports that the sea levels in the New York City area are expected to rise about twice as quickly as sea levels around the world, meaning that Gotham will take the plunge well before the rest of the United States.

But this is just one aspect of the future catastrophe, because as Science Daily stated, the submersion of low-lying land will be just the first of the many symptoms New York will suffer, like the conversion of wetlands to open water, the erosion of beaches and the increase in the salinity of estuaries that will eventually affect all surrounding ecosystems and damage the existing coastal development.

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States of America, the largest city in the state of Texas, the seat of Harris County and the economic center of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area.
“Houston, we have a problem!” The city known throughout the world as NASA headquarters will soon face a grave problem and we may actually see NASA’s Visitor’s Center not only stuck on Earth, but in it as well.

Texas’ most cosmopolitan is struggling to stay above ground since from the beginning much of the city was built on forested land, marshes, swamp, or prairie, which are all still visible in surrounding areas.

Houston sits on the loosely packed banks of four major bayous that empty into the Gulf of Mexico and the flatness of the of the local terrain, when combined with urban sprawl, has made flooding a recurring problem for the city. For years, residents of Houston relied on groundwater for their basic needs and the land subsidence forced the city to turn to ground-level water sources such as Lake Houston and Lake Conroe while the the mass amounts of extraction needed to supply the ever-expanding city weakened Houston’s foothold.

Houston’s streets and skyscrapers are mainly built above 300 or so active fault lines so the oil extraction was also damaging the city’s foundation. America’s fourth-largest city had its downtown area standing at about 50 feet (15 m) above sea level while the highest point in far northwest Houston is about 125 feet (38 m) in elevation.

In many parts of the city, especially in Jersey Village to the northwest, people have notice the slow sinking by as much as two inches per year, according to Science Daily. Experts also note that while sinking has slowed significantly in areas that have stopped extracting ground water, a permanent solution to Houston’s problem has yet to be found.

I think this should be reason enough to seriously consider traveling in this part of America.

Shanghai is the most populous city in China and the most populous city proper in the world, and as a global city, Shanghai exerts influence over global commerce, finance, culture, art, fashion, research and entertainment. Just like New York City, it really doesn’t matter how much economical power you exert in the world if your foundation is slowly sinking in the ground.

Shanghai is located at the middle portion of the Chinese coast, and sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River and on the Yangtze River Delta, being roughly equidistant from Beijing and Hong Kong; this sprawling city was also built on an area of swamplands which mainly surround the mouth of the Yangze River. Today, Shanghai is bordered on the north and west by Jiangsu Province, on the east by the East China Sea and on the south by Zhejiang Province.

The municipality as a whole consists of a peninsula between the Yangtze and Hangzhou Bay, China’s third largest island Chongming, and a number of smaller islands, but this large influential city started as a small fishing village that began in the mid-19th century to attract more and more residents.

Shanghai soon became the most densely populated city in the world, housing over 20 million people by 2001 and the original modest homes were replaced by breathtaking skyscrapers, which because of the city’s location on the flat alluvial plain, they had to be built with deep concrete piles to stop them sinking into the soft ground.

The city was handling the rapid expansion quite fine actually until the early 20th century, when wells became a major source of water and the underlying sediment deposit was disturbed. The result was the city’s many rivers, canals, streams and lakes and also being known for its rich water resources as part of the Taihu drainage area.

According to PBS, Shanghai sank roughly eight feet between 1921 and 1965, which equals about two inches per year, and while the highest point of the city can be found at the peak of Dajinshan Island at 103 m (338 ft), many other parts of it still continue to drop at a rate of about half an inch per year.

According to experts, not much can be done to keep Shanghai above ground because the city is just too heavy for its foundation. Efforts to stop this disaster are made and all the new high-rise buildings must be built with deep concrete piles to help support their weight.

We can’t make any miracles to stop the slow sinking of this amazing city but we can recommend you to pay a visit to it if you ever get the chance; the impressive architecture for which Shanghai is famous across the world should draw you as well.