Experts issue warning about looming threat to coastal cities: 'There's nothing we can do about it'

Many people have seen viral videos of water gushing through New York City subway tunnels, or been warned to visit Venice before it is completely underwater. But another city in Colombia faces a similar fate.

What's happening?

Over the last twenty years, the sea level on the shores of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, has risen an average of seven millimeters yearly, according to EL PAÍS. 

Cartagena is being affected by melting ice caps and rising global temperatures, but its uniqueness stems from its geology and a process called subsidence. 

Subsidence is natural; for example, in Cartagena, volcanic gas vents erupt, causing cracks in the land that can make the city literally sink. 

Marine biologist Juan Darío Restrepo said, "It's nature, and there's nothing we can do about it," as per EL PAÍS.

But it is often also caused by human behavior, like, as NOAA explains, "the removal of water, oil, natural gas, or mineral resources out of the ground by pumping, fracking, or mining activities."

Why is Cartagena's rising sea level important?

Cartagena faces a dire future. Colombia 1 reported that researchers found "the coastal city of Cartagena de Indias could be submerged by the Caribbean Sea by the end of the century." 

When subsidence is paired with rising global temperatures, the speed of rising water levels is compounded. 

As extreme weather events continue to become more frequent and intense, the effects are more widespread. Property damage is greater and can cost billions. Public health is at risk — in addition to facing potentially dangerous flooding situations and waterborne germs, a team at the Yale School of Public Health discovered that "flooding also was associated with an increased risk of mortality due to cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and mental disorders." 

What's being done about rising sea levels and subsidence?

Florida International University geophysics professor Shimon Wdowinski said of Cartagena, "Humans can't stop land subsidence, but we hope this [research] encourages people to play a role in slowing the rate of sea level rise by … reducing carbon emissions," according to Phys.org.

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Other global metropolises like Shanghai, San Francisco, and even Manhattan, where the preponderance of skyscrapers contributes, are also sinking under their own weight, and experts have made similar calls for change. 

Cartagena has put rocks down to create physical barriers against rising waters. But this solution is controversial and impermanent. 

As per EL PAÍS, Restrepo said, "They can put down as many rocks as they want, and in four or five years the water will be back on top … And that's a way to silence the communities … who have opposed the impact of these dredging operations."

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