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Is Washington D.C. sinking? How the city can adapt to flooding

Researchers have found that part of Washington D.C. may be at risk of submerging as geological processes continue. 

Washington D.C. is sinking and growing more flood-prone faster than anywhere else on the East Coast, a new study reveals.

An international team of geologists聽聽that the land under Chesapeake Bay is expected to fall 6 inches or more during the next 100 years.

鈥淭his falling land will exacerbate the flooding that the nation鈥檚 capital faces from rising ocean waters due to a warming climate and melting ice sheets 鈥揳ccelerating the threat to the region鈥檚 monuments, roads, wildlife refuges, and military installations,鈥� the University of Vermont in releasing the findings Tuesday.

The researchers, however, say that DC鈥檚 sinking land is not primarily driven by human influence, such as groundwater withdrawals or climate change 鈥渂ut instead is a long-term geological process that will continue unabated for tens of thousands of years, independent from human land use.鈥� They call the phenomenon 鈥渇orebulge collapse," which refers to the geological ups and downs that have been occurring unnoticed since the last ice age.

In 2012, an expert panel convened by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that by the end of the 21st century, we could see sea-level rise of as much as six feet globally.

Ben DeJong, the lead author on the new study, has called on the city to make preparations for the rising sea level before it鈥檚 too late. 鈥淩ight now is the time to start making preparations,鈥� Dr. DeJong said.

鈥淪ix extra inches of water really matters in this part of the world,鈥� DeJong said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 ironic that the nation鈥檚 capital 鈥� the place least responsive to the dangers of climate change 鈥� is sitting in one of the worst spots it could be in terms of this land subsidence. What鈥檚 next? Forebulge denial?鈥�

There have been noticeable efforts by some low-lying cities across the world preparing for effects of rising sea levels. Cities such as London, Rotterdam, St. Petersburg, New Orleans, and Shanghai have all built levees and storm barriers in the past few decades to control floods. 聽聽

The Netherlands, which is a geographically low-lying country, utilizes a system of surge barriers, dams, locks, and dikes along the seafront and at the mouths of rivers for flood protection. 聽

In 2008, New Orleans constructed a surge barrier stretching nearly two miles along Lake Borgne to protect the eastern part of the city from surging storm water that did so much harm during Hurricane Katrina.聽 When Hurricane Isaac made a land in 2012, that the New Orleans surge barrier safeguarded the city from the massive storm. 聽