Chinas cities are sinking because there are too many people in them | Tech News [Video]

Dozens of Chinese cities are sinking – including Beijing – and hundreds of millions of people are going to be affected.

The sheer weight of buildings to house everyone living there, combined with groundwater extraction, is causing widespread subsidence.

Severe subsidence will affect around one-third of its urban population, and in the next century around a quarter of China’s coastal land will be below sea level, which could be catastrophic in the face of climate change.

In recent decades, China has experienced one of the most rapid and extensive urban expansions in human history.

But a study of 82 urban areas revealed that 45% are sinking, with 16% falling at a rate of 10mm a year or more – labelled China’s ‘sinking belt’.

Shanghai – China’s biggest city – has subsided up to three metres over the past century, and when subsidence is combined with sea-level rise, the urban area in China below sea level could …