In Beijing, factories, buildings and underground pipelines have all been destroyed by the plundering of underground aquifers and the resultant land subsidence.

CNN: Economic miracle, environmental disaster

Other aspects of climate change and land subsidence significantly exacerbate this effect though the relative importance of these factors varies from location.

UNESCO: MEDIA SERVICES

China's rising sea levels hit a record high in 2012 due to global warming and land subsidence, threatening millions of coastal residents, reports China Daily.

BBC: China media: Egypt accident anger

The average settling, or subsidence, was about the same as it was measured on land - about six millimeters a year.

NPR: Satellite Imagery Shows a Sinking New Orleans