This sinking of the ground – local land subsidence – "in cities built on flat, low-elevation river deltas” has increased the vulnerability of large populations to relative sea level rise, the scientists said.

Scientists used satellite imagery taken between 2014 and 2020 to analyse sinking land across 48 of the most densely populated coastal cities, with populations of at least five million. They found that the median velocity of land subsidence in each of the cities ranges as much as 16.2 millimetres, or more than 0.6 inches annually.

“Many of these fast-subsiding coastal cities are rapidly expanding megacities, where anthropogenic factors, such as high demands for groundwater extraction and loading from densely constructed building structures, contribute to local land subsidence," the study said.

In a statement, lead author Cheryl Tay said, “Rapid sinking of the land is frequently caused by groundwater extraction. This is concerning in Asia where many coastal cities are now centres of growth, and there is high demand for groundwater extraction to meet the water needs of growing populations.”

But, unless, there appears an immediate danger to the Global North, there is little to no concern about the havoc that the human-induced climate crisis wreaks.

The North-South divide is such that of the so-called big news publications in the West, only the Washington Post managed to report on this study, whose primary focus was on cities in South and Southeast Asia.

So, sinking cities in Asia may not catch as many eyeballs as, say an American city would.

While the researchers did feature Washington among the 48 cities studied, it had a relatively low rate of land subsidence, averaging zero millimetres annually.

Except. The American coast may be on another catastrophic path.

A study by NASA in November last year showed average sea level rise along most coastlines of the contiguous US could rise as much as 12 inches above today’s waterline by 2050, with the Gulf of Coast and Southeast likely to see the most change. Almost 30% of the American population, that lives near coastal areas, is vulnerable to this sea level rise.

Building on methods from an earlier study, which predicted 10-14 inches of rise on average for the East Coast, 14 to 18 inches for the Gulf Coast, and 4 to 8 inches for the West Coast, the researchers said the trends were in the higher ranges of these estimates for all regions.