Terrawatch: what the world can learn from China's sinking city

A feat of engineering is tackling subsidence in Shanxi province, but water conservation and tree planting can also helpFissures and sinkholes are the norm in China's Shanxi province. Intensive agriculture combined with major coal production has put huge pressure on water resources and sucked the earth dry, leaving the city of Taiyuan, with a population of 5 million, and the surrounding area suffering some of the highest subsidence rates in the world. Pipelines, roads, bridges and railways need constant repairs, and gaping cracks in buildings have resulted in entire communities having to be rehoused.Since 2003, the Chinese government has been trying to solve this problem by diverting surplus water from the Yellow River. Now satellite measurements, published in Remote Sensing of Environment, reveal that this mammoth feat of engineering - taking 1.2bn cubic metres of water every year - has partially solved the problem, with diverted water rehydrating underground pores and reversing the sinking trend. Continue reading...