Last edited 15 Apr 2025

Anthropogenic subsidence

Climate Change 2021 – The Physical Science Basis, Annex VII: Glossary, written by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and published by Cambridge University Press in 2023, defines anthropogenic subsidence as: ‘Downward motion of the land surface induced by anthropogenic drivers (e.g., loading, extraction of hydrocarbons and/or groundwater, drainage, mining activities) causing sediment compaction or subsidence/deformation of the sedimentary sequence, or oxidation of organic material, thereby leading to relative sea level rise.’

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