The vitality of transatlantic commerce between coastal communities has allowed numerous countries to trade commodities, export humanitarian aid, and create beachy standards of living that reflect the rapid development of the modern world. However, the immense weight of skyscrapers and other human creations that have accompanied this development is set to accelerate coastal flooding. The pumping of groundwater and oil, as well as coal mining, exacerbates this process, as the empty space left behind gives way to rock collapse. Chinese cities like Tianjin and Beijing, coastal urban areas in the Netherlands and Ukraine, and segments of American states like California and Florida, are now in the path of imminently rising sea levels. According to a new study, 16% of major cities in the Eastern Hemisphere are losing greater than ten millimeters of elevation per year, and half are losing more than three. These numbers may seem small, but sea levels are projected to rise nearly six feet by the end of the century. 

The need for alternative metals used as raw materials to build clean car batteries is dire, the likes of which will help to fuel the green revolution. Yet their extraction has caused discourse, as some of the largest caches of such metals lie 300 kilometers below on the deep ocean floor.