Global subsidence of river deltas.

ABSTRACT: River deltas sustain dense human populations, major economic centres and vital ecosystems worldwide^1,2. Rising sea levels and subsiding land threaten the sustainability of these valuable landscapes with relative sea-level rise and associated flood, land loss and salinization hazards^1-3. Despite these risks, vulnerability assessments are impeded by the lack of contemporary, high-resolution, delta-wide subsidence observations⁴. Here we present spatially variable surface-elevation changes across 40 global deltas using interferometric synthetic aperture radar. Using this dataset, we quantify delta surface-elevation loss and show the prevalence and severity of subsidence in river deltas worldwide. Our analysis of three key anthropogenic drivers of delta elevatio

SUBMITTER: Ohenhen LO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12823437 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature