Flood inundation amplified by large-scale ground subsidence funnel under the ongoing global climate change

Global climate change is leading to more severe rainfalls, greatly exacerbating the inundation risk of large-scale subsidence funnels worldwide. Here, we present a case of flood disaster in a large ground subsidence funnel at the Liaohe plain of China in 2022, triggered by continuous heavy rainfall under the ongoing global climate change. We conducted a retrospective investigation and analysis of the disaster event and its impacts through the comprehensive utilization of satellite remote sensing, numerical simulation, and risk assessment techniques. We observed the scale of the subsidence funnel for nearly 50 years, quantitatively analyzed the impact of subsidence on the flood disaster, and assessed the flood disaster risk. The results indicated that the ground subsidence has partially compromised the flood protection capacity of rivers, elevating flood risk in this region by 28.24%. Additionally, the subsidence has also damaged the flood control dam, leading to a breach and a secondary flooding disaster. Our work demonstrates that it’s possible to characterize the inundation risk of large-scale subsidence funnels by spaceborne remote sensing in advance. This approach could enhance the capacity to cope with extreme weather events in similar ground subsidence regions worldwide. Ground subsidence partially compromised the flood protection capacity of rivers and damaged the flood control dam resulting in a 28% increase in flood risk and secondary flooding disaster in the Liaohe plain, China in 2022, according to a retrospective analysis of the disaster event and its impacts.