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WASHINGTON (AP)
Parts of New Orleans are sinking far more rapidly than scientists first thought, more than an inch a year, new research suggests.
That may explain some levee failures during Hurricane Katrina and raises more worries about the future.
The research, being published Thursday in the journal Nature, is based on new satellite radar data for the three years before Katrina struck in 2005. The data show that some areas are sinking — from overdevelopment, drainage and natural seismic shifts — four or five times faster than the rest of the city. And that, experts say, can be deadly.
"My concern is the very low-lying areas," said lead author Tim Dixon, a University of Miami geophysicist. "I think those areas are death traps. I don't think those areas should be rebuilt."
For years, scientists figured New Orleans on average was sinking about one-fifth of an inch a year based on 100 measurements of the region, Dixon said. The new data from 150,000 measurements taken from space finds that about 10% to 20% of the region had yearly subsidence in the inch-a-year range, he said.
Parts of New Orleans are sinking far more rapidly than scientists first thought, more than an inch a year, new research suggests.
That may explain some levee failures during Hurricane Katrina and raises more worries about the future.
The research, being published Thursday in the journal Nature, is based on new satellite radar data for the three years before Katrina struck in 2005. The data show that some areas are sinking — from overdevelopment, drainage and natural seismic shifts — four or five times faster than the rest of the city. And that, experts say, can be deadly.
"My concern is the very low-lying areas," said lead author Tim Dixon, a University of Miami geophysicist. "I think those areas are death traps. I don't think those areas should be rebuilt."
For years, scientists figured New Orleans on average was sinking about one-fifth of an inch a year based on 100 measurements of the region, Dixon said. The new data from 150,000 measurements taken from space finds that about 10% to 20% of the region had yearly subsidence in the inch-a-year range, he said.