- Sweeping Vietnam internet law comes into force
- Pope kicks off Christmas under shadow of war
- Catholics hold muted Christmas mass in Indonesia's Sharia stronghold
- Japan's top diplomat in China to address 'challenges'
- Thousands attend Christmas charity dinner in Buenos Aires
- Demand for Japanese content booms post 'Shogun'
- As India's Bollywood shifts, stars and snappers click
- Mystery drones won't interfere with Santa's work: US tracker
- Djokovic eyes more Slam glory as Swiatek returns under doping cloud
- Australia's in-form Head confirmed fit for Boxing Day Test
- Brazilian midfielder Oscar returns to Sao Paulo
- 'Wemby' and 'Ant-Man' to make NBA Christmas debuts
- US agency focused on foreign disinformation shuts down
- On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis launches holy Jubilee year
- 'Like a dream': AFP photographer's return to Syria
- Chiefs seek top seed in holiday test for playoff-bound NFL teams
- Panamanians protest 'public enemy' Trump's canal threat
- Cyclone death toll in Mayotte rises to 39
- Ecuador vice president says Noboa seeking her 'banishment'
- Leicester boss Van Nistelrooy aware of 'bigger picture' as Liverpool await
- Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband
- Maresca expects Man City to be in title hunt as he downplays Chelsea's chancs
- South Africa opt for all-pace attack against Pakistan
- Guardiola adamant Man City slump not all about Haaland
- Global stocks mostly higher in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war
- 11 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Indonesia considers parole for ex-terror chiefs: official
- Postecoglou says Spurs 'need to reinforce' in transfer window
- Le Pen says days of new French govt numbered
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
- Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup
- How Finnish youth learn to spot disinformation
- 12 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Panama leaders past and present reject Trump's threat of Canal takeover
- Hong Kong police issue fresh bounties for activists overseas
- Saving the mysterious African manatee at Cameroon hotspot
- India consider second spinner for Boxing Day Test
- London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas
- Poyet appointed manager at South Korea's Jeonbuk
- South Korea's opposition vows to impeach acting president
- The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
- Teen Konstas to open for Australia in Boxing Day India Test
- Asian stocks mostly up after US tech rally
- US panel could not reach consensus on US-Japan steel deal: Nippon
- The real-life violence that inspired South Korea's 'Squid Game'
- Blogs to Bluesky: social media shifts responses after 2004 tsunami
- Tennis power couple de Minaur and Boulter get engaged
- Supermaxi yachts eye record in gruelling Sydney-Hobart race
- Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts, spewing columns of lava
Sinking US cities more exposed to rising seas: study
Sea level rise could hit major US cities like New Orleans and San Francisco harder than expected by mid-century because coastal land is sinking, researchers said Wednesday, warning current flood defences leave people and property at risk.
Global warming is melting ice sheets and glaciers and raising ocean water levels across the world, with predictions that the United States will see some of the fastest increases, threatening coastal regions that are home to some 30 percent of the country's population.
Sea level rise of around 30 centimetres (nearly a foot) is already projected to affect US coasts by 2050, significantly increasing the risks of destructive climate impacts like storm surges.
But that threat is even greater when you take into account coastal subsidence, researchers found, warning that tens of thousands of people -- and potentially billions of dollars of property -- could be left exposed in 32 cities along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts.
Poorer and minority communities are at greatest risk, according to the study published in the Journal Nature.
That "really multiplies the potential impact to those areas and their abilities to recover from significant flooding," lead author Leonard Ohenhen, of Virginia Tech, told AFP.
Ohenhen said subsidence, which can occur naturally and because of human actions like groundwater extraction and drainage, has been underestimated in computer modelling of flooding.
That has left more people at risk, according to the study.
Researchers found that even with current coastal defence infrastructure, subsidence and sea level rise could expose more than 1,300 square kilometres (around 500 square miles) of additional land to flooding over the next three decades.
This could threaten between 55,000 to 273,000 people and up to 171,000 properties.
Under the worst case scenario, one in every 50 people along the US coast could be exposed to a flood threat -- along with hundreds of thousands of properties, with a total estimated value of $32 billion to $109 billion.
To slow the rate of subsidence, researchers recommended reducing groundwater extraction, regulating industrial activities and reducing emissions to reduce long-term climate risks.
Sea walls, levees and barriers offer flood protection, while nature-based solutions like restoring marshes and mangroves can also help.
"Ecosystems act as natural buffers against storm surges and help in sediment accumulation, which can mitigate the effects of land subsidence," said Ohenhen.
Nogueira--PC