WASHINGTON, July 29 (UPI) -- Sea levels are rising, and according to a new study, Washington, D.C., is quickly sinking. The combination could be potentially problematic for those living in the nation's capital. 
 
 Tides around the Chesapeake Bay have been rising at twice the pace of the global rate, leading researchers to believe land beneath the water is sinking. 
 
 Scientists hypothesized the landmass in the region had long been buoyed by a pre-historic ice sheet to the north, and that the region has been slowly dropping back into position since the ice melted. 
 
 Observations made during recent drilling expeditions in Maryland -- led by a team of geologists from the University of Vermont -- have confirmed scientists' hypothesis. The work was aided by high-resolution LiDAR and GPS map data. 
 
 Unlike places like Mexico City and California, where sinking problems are largely manmade -- the result of the usage pressure on groundwater -- the District's problem is a natural phenomenon. And it's one likely to last for 10,000 years. 
 
 Researchers predict Washington, D.C., could sink as much as six inches by the end of the century, exacerbating increased flooding risks brought on by global warming and rising seas. 
 
 Scientists call the District's problem "forebulge collapse." 
 
 "It's a bit like sitting on one side of a water bed filled with very thick honey," explained Ben DeJong, a doctoral student at Vermont's Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, "then the other side goes up. But when you stand, the bulge comes down again." 
 
 DeJong is the lead author of a new study on the findings, published this week in the publication GSA Today. 
 
 "It's ironic that the nation's capital -- the place least responsive to the dangers of climate change -- is sitting in one of the worst spots it could be in terms of this land subsidence," said senior study author Paul Bierman, a Vermont geologist. "Will the Congress just sit there with their feet getting ever wetter? What's next, forebulge denial?" ||||| Sea level is rising faster in the D.C. region than anywhere else on the East Coast. (John J. Young via Flickr 
 
 Sea level in the Washington, D.C., region is rising fast — faster than any other region along the East Coast. Scientists have now confirmed that this is because, in addition to global warming pushing water levels higher and higher, the ground is literally sinking beneath our feet, and it will probably drop another six inches by the end of the century. 
 
 Even without the sinking action, sea level would still be rising because of global warming — melting glaciers (Alaska, Greenland, the West Antarctic ice sheet, to name a few), and thermal expansion (when water warms, it expands). Looking at climate change influences alone, average global sea level is likely to rise anywhere from one foot to to 2.5 feet by 2100. 
 
 Combine the two effects — sinking and climate change — and the Chesapeake Bay’s sea level rise could surpass three feet by the end of the century. Of course, that is assuming the absence of a catastrophic melting event in Greenland or Antarctica. 
 
 [Alaska’s glaciers are now losing 75 billion tons of ice each year] 
 
 A team of researchers led by the University of Vermont and the U.S. Geological Survey came to this sobering conclusion after an extensive field study where they drilled 70 boreholes, many over 100 feet deep, into the ground around the Chesapeake Bay in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Dorchester County. Using the depth of the different sediment layers in the boreholes, they were able to paint a portrait the Chesapeake Bay across time and space that dates back millions of years. 
 
 They confirmed that the “sinking” at hand is a remnant of the last ice age when a vast sheet of ice covered much of North America, as far south as the Ohio Valley and New York City. That glacier was heavy, causing the ground to sink beneath its weight. As a result, the areas bordering the ice — like Washington, D.C. — bulged upward. “It’s a bit like sitting on one side of a water bed filled with very thick honey,” lead author Ben DeJong explains. 
 
 [Photos: You can already see the effects of sea level rise in Maryland] 
 
 In the thousands of years since the massive glacier retreated, the areas that were under ice have risen and the bulge has sank, but it’s far from finished. It’s a process that will continue for tens of thousands of years, and the D.C. region is locked in to the half-foot of sea level rise that comes with it, in addition to the rising tides from climate change. 
 
 What does this mean for the D.C. region? Given the results of the study, sea level will likely continue to rise faster in this region than anywhere else on the East Coast, and the authors strongly advise that preparations be made now for the additional water from the sinking motion. “Six extra inches of water really matters in this part of the world,” said DeLong. 
 
 More on sea level rise: 
 
 Climate expert: “Washington, D.C., faces significant risk” 
 
 High tides will spill into neighborhoods far more often 
 
 World’s most famous climate scientist just outlined alarming sea level scenario ||||| New Orleans is sinking, according to a study using NASA airborne radar. The subsidence, or sinking rates, of the city and surrounding areas is caused by naturally occurring geologic and human-caused processes. According to this latest study, subsidence is happening at higher rates than what previous data has shown using different kinds of radar, which before had been lower resolution and not as spatially extensive. 
 
 The study took place from June 2009 to July 2012 and was a joint effort by scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.; University of California, Los Angeles; and the Center for GeoInformatics at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. 
 
 "Agencies can use these data to more effectively implement actions to remediate and reverse the effects of subsidence, improving the long-term coastal resiliency and sustainability of New Orleans," said Cathleen Jones, Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist and author. "The more recent land elevation change rates from this study will be used to inform flood modeling and response strategies, improving public safety." 
 
 Up to two inches a year were the highest subsidence rates found, observed mostly near the Mississippi River by industrial areas such as Norco and Michoud. Other high subsidence rates were found in the city's Upper and Lower Ninth Ward, Metairie, and Bonnet Carré Spillway, where the water levels hiked up another 1.6 inches a year. 
 
 The subsidence is primarily caused by groundwater pumping and surface water pumping (known as dewatering). Other factors include faulting; deposited sediments weighing down the Earth's crust; human withdrawal of water, oil, and gas; shallow sediments compacting; and perpetual land movement from glaciers during the last glacial period. 
 
 Louisiana has been among the US locations hardest hit by climate change. The government recently set aside a $48-million grant to move the entire community of the sinking Isle de Jean Charles to drier land. Washington, D.C. is also sinking and could drop at least six inches in the next hundred years, according to researchers. Moreover, 10,000 refugees from the Marshall Islands, which have sunk to more than six feet above sea level, have sought refuge in Arkansas, escaping the dire consequences of climate change at home. 
 
 Overall, global sea levels have risen about three inches since 1992 because of global warming. Scientists predict that they can rise another three feet in the next century or two. In some areas, sea levels have risen up to nine inches. The rising sea levels are caused primarily by the expansiveness of warm water, which takes up more space than cooler water, and the melting of the ice caps, during which more water runs into the ocean. 
 
 "People need to understand that the planet is not only changing, it's changed," said NASA cryosphere program scientist Tom Wagner. If global temperatures rise by another 6 degrees Fahrenheit the next century, causing sea levels to rise, between 20 and 31 million Americans could lose their homes. 
 
 Facing the imminent consequences of climate change, many communities are stepping up to take action. From the local level, protest and public indignation has helped close down coal-burning power plants, which now provide only a third of US electricity, as compared with more than half in 1990. Stricter pollution standards and lower natural gas prices have also been factors in the closing of 200 coal-fired plants since 2001, according to the Sierra Club. Meanwhile, localities in south Florida, one of the nation's most at-risk spots, have begun to use recycled water to alleviate the reduction of the freshwater aquifer, threatened by underground sea water pushed inland. Meanwhile, other cities around the country from Boston to Seattle have begun to convert taxi cabs to hybrid fleets, plant gardens on roofs to reduce air conditioning needs, and install solar panels. 
 
 "The troops on the ground, the local officials and stakeholders, are acting, even in the face of a total lack of support on the top level," Michael Mann, climate scientist at Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pa., said to Douglas Struck for The Christian Science Monitor. "The impacts of climate change are pretty bad and projected to get much worse if we continue business as usual. But there still is time to avert what we might reasonably describe as a true catastrophe. There are some signs we are starting to turn the corner."
– It sounds like a metaphor but is geological reality: Washington, DC, is sinking. In fact, researchers led by a team at the University of Vermont predict that the ground will drop another six inches by the end of the century, reports UPI. The cause isn't man-made: It's the result of an age-old geologic process that will continue to unfold for thousands of years. But it's presenting the DC region with a dangerous double-whammy—the ground is sinking at the same time that sea levels are rising because of warming temperatures, say the UV researchers. The study confirms a long-held theory on why sea levels around DC are rising faster than any other stretch along the coast, reports the Washington Post. “Right now is the time to start making preparations,” says lead study author Ben DeJong. “Six extra inches of water really matters in this part of the world." He and his team drilled dozens of boreholes around the Chesapeake Bay to figure out what's happening. The culprit is an ancient ice sheet that covered much of North America, then retreated, and the land is oh-so-slowly settling back into place. DC was actually in an area just outside the sheet and "bulged upward," as the Post puts it. "It's a bit like sitting on one side of a water bed filled with very thick honey," says DeJong. "Then the other side goes up. But when you stand, the bulge comes down again." (In another geologic discovery, click to read why the Earth hums.)