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Old 09-20-2014, 08:02 AM
 
545 posts, read 1,100,564 times
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Chicago is sinking slowly every year. Will this have any affects over the long term? Will lake michigan flood the coastline, or buildings collapse?

USATODAY.com - Scientists: Chicago is sinking
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Old 09-20-2014, 09:28 AM
 
Location: Chicago - Logan Square
3,396 posts, read 7,210,152 times
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It is sinking by about 1mm a year. Considering the fact that water levels in Lake Michigan naturally fluctuate by a foot or so every year, it isn't a problem. It will take thousands of years before the amount of sinking is on the same scale as natural variations in the lake level.
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Old 09-20-2014, 04:04 PM
 
Location: River North, Chicago, Illinois
4,619 posts, read 8,168,513 times
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Worst case, the Corp of Engineers could widen the channels that go to the St. Lawrence Seaway and drain them. We're not talking about a huge per-annum slosh, so even a minor increase in drainage would correct the issue. Niagara Falls would get ever so slightly stronger and we'd be fine. But even that is very unlikely to be necessary if there is global warming - the opposite problem is a greater likelihood.
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Old 09-21-2014, 09:07 PM
 
92 posts, read 160,751 times
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That article is ten years old. If it hasn't been constantly talked about since then, I wouldn't worry too much about it.
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Old 09-22-2014, 09:36 AM
 
11,289 posts, read 26,191,557 times
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Strange they picked out Chicago specifically. The article said it the entire USA that's very slowly sinking and Canada is rising. This isn't really a Chicago issue.

Anyway....the rate is so slow it doesn't matter anyway in our lifetime.
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Old 09-22-2014, 11:31 AM
 
Location: Chicago
3,920 posts, read 6,833,898 times
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Lake levels were at record lows recently. its just within the past couple of years that we have seen a rise in water levels. Some outlets claim this to be caused by the extra cold winters we've had which trap the water into the lake with all of the ice sheets. Who knows...
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Old 09-22-2014, 02:57 PM
 
11,975 posts, read 31,786,761 times
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If Chicago is sinking, wouldn't the lake floor also be sinking?
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Old 09-23-2014, 08:14 AM
 
11,289 posts, read 26,191,557 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lookout Kid View Post
If Chicago is sinking, wouldn't the lake floor also be sinking?
Well we're talking 25 years for the city's average land level to drop one inch. It wouldn't be noticed for any reason for maybe 150 years. It's not the city either, it's the entire country, so really I don't know if you would ever notice it, everything would just slowly sink down a bit all together. It's not TILTING, it's just settling.
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Old 09-23-2014, 08:22 AM
 
Location: Oak Park, IL
5,525 posts, read 13,948,017 times
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Uh oh, maybe we should all move down south far away from the glacier effect? Like maybe southern Louisiana or Florida?

/joke
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Old 09-23-2014, 08:43 AM
 
Location: Chicago
3,920 posts, read 6,833,898 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lookout Kid View Post
If Chicago is sinking, wouldn't the lake floor also be sinking?
The term Chicago is sinking is misleading. If you read the article, it really refers to the lake levels rising within the past year or two due to the melting of glaciers up north.
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