SINKING LAND DRIVES COASTAL FLOOD RISK ON DENSELY POPULATED JAVA ISLAND

BLACKSBURG, Va., April 8 -- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University issued the following news release:

A new study published in Science Advances reveals that sinking land - not just rising oceans alone - will be the main cause of future coastal flooding along Indonesia's densely populated Java Island, putting millions at risk sooner than expected.

"We often frame sea-level rise hazards as a climate-driven process, but in many of the world's most vulnerable regions, human-induced sinking land is the dominant driver," said Manoochehr Shirzaei, Virginia Tech geoscientist and co-author of the study. "If we ignore that, we are fundamentally underestimating risk."

Using satellite radar data and advanced machine learning techniques,...