The Korean National Daily quoted a report of the Spanish Institute of Geology and Mining on the 4th that 8% of the ground on the earth’s surface may settle by 2040, and the settlement area will be 120 times the current land area of South Korea, which is also equivalent to the total land area of the United States and Mexico, and the population of 635 million people worldwide. Living and life will be affected.
According to the report, the main causes of ground subsidence are overexploitation of groundwater, minerals and burning fossil fuels. Greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels lead to global warming, sea level rise, and thus increase ground subsidence.
Using data from the past 10 years, the researchers found that the higher the population density and the more irrigation facilities, the greater the risk of ground subsidence, that is, “the more water is, the more dangerous the place is.”
According to projections, the areas most affected by surface subsidence in the future may be the northern plains of China, the Gulf Coast, the Vietnam and Egyptian Delta plains, the Netherlands, and the inland sedimentary basins in Mexico, Iran and the Mediterranean Sea.
And 86% of the people affected are Asians; in terms of regional size or population base, India and China will be the most at risk of ground subsidence.
