Three river deltas in China are sinking due to global warming and excessive extraction of underground water, leaving millions of people with an increasing risk of floods, a recent scientific report showed.
The Pearl, Yangtze and Yellow river deltas in China are among the 33 major
deltas studied, with 24 of them found to be sinking, according to the report
released by the University of Colorado. The three river deltas in China cover
about 160,000 sq km and nearly 100 million people live in the areas surrounding
these river deltas.
"Most of the at-risk river basins are in the developing countries of Asia, but there are several in developed nations as well, including the Rhone in France and the Po in Italy," Altert Kettner from the university told British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
"This study shows there are a host of human-induced factors that already cause deltas to sink much more rapidly than could be explained by sea level alone," he said in the BBC report.
clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn
not too surprising.. they are always sinking but the only difference is that whether it has been faster than usual. and do you know that HK Island is originally taller than it is right now? It sank a lot esp in the eastern parts.
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