Beijing Is Sinking

The second-largest economy in the world is in danger of sinking—literally. Beijing, China’s capital city, is subsiding beneath millions of people’s feet, exacerbating the risk of land subsidence across the country.

The study published in the journal Science found that nearly half of China’s urban areas, comprising 29% of the country’s population, are sinking faster than 3 millimeters (about 0.12 inches) each year.

On average, China faces an annual loss of $1 billion due to subsidence, and predictions are that by the end of the century, 25% of its coastal land could be below sea level.

Human activities such as groundwater extraction, mining, and construction often cause this gradual sinking or settling of the Earth’s surface.

While the land is sinking due to the lowering water table, the weight of the cities is exacerbating the problem.

The study also suggests that roughly a quarter of China’s coasts will be lower than sea level in the next several years because of subsidence and projected rising sea levels.

Beijing isn’t even number one on the list of Chinese cities worst affected by subsidence. The city taking the top spot is Tianjin, which is sinking at a rate of 52mm per year.

It is believed that subsidence harms critical infrastructure, such as high-speed railways.

Measuring subsidence helps find solutions before problems arise, but more is needed to help protect future generations.

While all of this is going on, China’s population continues to decrease. In 2023, the population decreased by 2 million since 2022 to 1.409 billion.

Another issue with China’s population has caused it to be in a population doom loop. Twenty percent of the Country’s current population is over the age of 60, which is much higher than in previous years.

If Beijing sinks, then China could be in economic trouble. The city, which is the heart of the country’s political and economic center, hosts a diverse range of industries.

Beijing is also a major financial center, hosting the headquarters of the country’s major banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions.

There are ongoing debates about whether the state of China’s economy is temporary or if there are much deeper issues at play.

To combat these issues, some coastal areas in China have built a physical wall of protection, but the study did not take those “impressive” dike systems (which are meters tall) into consideration.

The Chinese government is addressing the sinking issue in several ways. Strict laws to control groundwater pumping in recent years are helping the water table recover, which in turn helps prevent land subsidence.

Now, China is focusing on pumping water from new sources such as the Yangtze River to alleviate water shortages in affected cities.

“I believe China’s government efforts will address the issue of land subsidence,” Tao said. “But I would suggest to keep controlling groundwater withdrawals for major cities and constantly maintain dike systems in coastal lands.”

Experts are saying that China needs to take note of what other countries are doing to try to reduce subsidence levels. One example given is Japan.

City growth is a key indicator of subsidence, which is increasing and causing urban areas to sink. Some examples of this include Beijing’s Chaoyang district, which has boomed since the 1990s, but subsidence poses a risk to buildings and other types of infrastructure.

Leonard Ohenhen, a doctoral researcher at Virginia Tech, informed CNN that rising sea levels and sinking land were not issues isolated to coastal communities. “Most urban cities experience land subsidence, but we focus our attention on coastal cities because of sea level rise,” Ohenhen said.

The study has shown that around 45% of all urban areas worldwide are sinking. 16% of these fall at a rate of 10mm or more per year.

Cities in the East are not the only ones sinking; cities in the West are also prone to sinking due to subsidence. Places such as New York City, the financial capital of the world, are currently sinking.

Hurricane Katrina is one of the worst natural disasters to have happened in living memory. Sinking sea defenses enabled the hurricane to bring as much devastation as it did and caused a higher death toll than it should have.