You've probably never been worried about sinkholes – here's why you should be
Experts suspect a water main burst beneath the road and eroded the soil, in combination with the fact that the region's underground soils were once the home to the town's sand quarry. Dr Philip Collins, deputy dean of the College of Engineering at Brunel University of London, explained quite simply that the underlying sand likely became very 'weak when it becomes wet' and that, combined with some clay-rich layers in the Godstone sand, that likely would 'heave and shrink over time'.
The reason behind the formation then may be very localised. But as scientists investigate, the incident serves as a reminder that sudden ground collapses are not as rare now as they once seemed. Around the world, sinkholes are appearing more frequently, and there is a budding understanding of how climate change might be driving these formations, with changing rainfall conditions, both when the underlying soil is too wet and too dry.
In January 2021, a sinkhole in Naples swallowed a hospital car park, causing power outages and temporary disruptions at the Ospedale del Mare, which had a Covid-19 recovery unit. In 2022, sinkholes swallowed roads and farmland in parts of China, including Guangxi and Hunan. Scientists have linked increasing sinkhole activity in some regions to changing rainfall patterns and groundwater depletion. In May 2023, a long-dormant sinkhole in Daisetta, Texas, first formed in 2008, suddenly expanded overnight by 150 feet, raising concerns for nearby homes and infrastructure.
From Europe to the US and Asia, sinkholes are appearing in new areas, and this seems to be happening with greater frequency, as extreme weather and human activity make the ground more unstable.
Sinkholes happen when underground layers of soil or rock weaken and collapse, often due to shifts in water levels. Picture a sponge drying out and shrinking, then suddenly being soaked with water. It softens, buckles, and caves in. Climate change is intensifying both extremes – droughts that deplete underground reservoirs and storms that overwhelm the land with too much water too quickly.
In north-eastern Spain, researchers found a consistent link between sinkholes and drought periods. When underground aquifers dry up, air pockets replace the missing water, leaving the surface fragile. The next heavy rain, instead of replenishing the ground, saturates the weakened soil and triggers collapses.
A similar pattern has been observed in Florida, where hurricanes bring record-breaking rainfall after months of dry conditions, causing land to crumble weeks after the storm has passed. Following Hurricane Ian in 2022, sinkholes began appearing across central Florida, swallowing roads and backyards long after the floodwaters had receded.
Unlike hurricanes or wildfires, sinkholes do not come with forecasts or evacuation warnings. We can't monitor them like we do the weather. For the most part, like they did this week, they open without notice. This makes them extremely dangerous in urban areas where underground infrastructure and ageing roads combine with a drought or over-extraction of underground water. And after this week, they now take up way too much rent-free space in my head.
The financial cost of these disasters is rising as well. In the US, sinkhole-related damage now exceeds $300 million annually. In China's Shaanxi province, more than 20,000 sinkholes were recorded between 2000 and 2020, a number that continues to grow as rainfall patterns shift. In the Middle East, excessive groundwater extraction has led to increased sinkhole activity in Iran, Jordan, and the Dead Sea region, where over 6,000 sinkholes have formed due to falling water levels.
This is part of what climate change looks like. It might not be the part you thought to expect and may not have directly contributed to this week's sinkholes in Godstone, but it is increasingly part of the patchwork of climatic uncertainty. We are not just at risk from heatwaves and melting ice caps, but changes in rainfall patterns literally seep into the soil and make the very ground we walk on increasingly unstable.
Although there are multi-input efforts to model and improve geological stability around the world, it's still very hard to predict or prevent sinkholes from forming. We can, however, start treating them as a symptom made potentially worse and far more common by our much larger addiction to burning fossil fuels and our general neglect of the uniquely changing Earth around us, both above our heads and below our feet.
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The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- The Herald Scotland
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From pioneering bowel cancer screening programmes using the faecal immunochemical test (FIT), now central to early detection efforts worldwide, to the EAVE-II platform, which was instrumental in understanding vaccine effectiveness during COVID-19, our clinical academics have delivered innovations with national and global impact." Prof Rory McCrimmon, one of the authors of the letter and Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Dundee, explained how these types of contributions are at risk of becoming increasingly scarce. He said that there are more academics over the age of 55 than under the age of 35. Clinical researchers now make up just 3% of the overall workforce, and only 0.6% of primary care workers are clinical researchers. Prof Rory McCrimmon has argued that clinical researchers need more practical and financial support in order to continue performing their life-saving work. (Image: University of Dundee) He added that the shrinking supply of clinical academics, combined with the baked-in challenges in the field, is adding immense stress on researchers. "It is undoubtedly harder to do out-of-programme research at the PhD or MD level, because obtaining funding for that is challenging. "Students leave university now with a larger amount of debt, and it takes a long time. It takes maybe ten to fifteen years to become a consultant. If you add a further three to five years of research on top of that, that's an incredibly long time to become a clinical academic. "I think it is also perceived to be really, really hard, because you are moving into a very competitive world." Read more: Prof Lorna Marson, Dean of Clinical Medicine at Edinburgh and a contributor to the open letter, said that clinical researchers have a significant impact on their patients and communities, in addition to their broader contributions to the economy and the field. "Research-active hospitals have better outcomes for their patients in terms of morbidity and mortality. "Also, engaging in clinical trials gives patients the opportunity to get expensive drugs for no cost. "There are many significant added values to being a patient in a research hospital, so we need to support that as much as we can." Prof Lorna Marson has said that barriers to people looking to break into clinical research should not distract from the passion that these academics have for their profession. (Image: University of Edinburgh) Prof Marson added that the decline in the number of clinical academics was not due to a lack of ambition in the profession and that better general support for researchers could make the career more feasible for many hopefuls. 'It's extraordinary that there are still a good number of people who want to do this. I think that demonstrates the huge commitment that people are bringing to this field, and therefore, we have to support them and help them if it's what they want to do. 'But it is exceptionally difficult for women who also want to have time out to have a family, or those who have caring responsibilities and wish to prolong their training. 'Using women as an example, we need to look for ways to support them not only to have time out to have families, but to undertake their research and continue in clinical academia. That is where we see the biggest drop-off, and it is not because they don't passionately want to stay. 'They just can't see a way through it.' All of this is against a backdrop of extreme competition for funding. Prof Ian McInnes CBE, co-author of the letter and Vice Principal and Head of College, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences at the University of Glasgow, called it a 'sadness' that young researchers are facing barriers to the profession at a time when there are many new opportunities on the horizon. 'Increasingly, academicians of the future will be data scientists. They'll be computing scientists. They'll be business scientists with MBAs and organisational design specialists. 'One of the ambitions I have for Scotland is that we actually become a model for an incredibly diverse community of academic clinicians with expertise in so many different areas.' Due to the interconnectedness of the UK higher education sector, Scottish researchers and institutions are in direct competition with their English counterparts. But different structures and priorities mean they are not always on an even playing field, Prof McInnes explained. 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The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- The Herald Scotland
Why clinical research in Scotland needs urgent rescue
Scotland has long punched above its weight in this field. From pioneering bowel cancer screening programmes using the faecal immunochemical test (FIT), now central to early detection efforts worldwide, to the EAVE-II platform, which was instrumental in understanding vaccine effectiveness during COVID-19, our clinical academics have delivered innovations with national and global impact. Our universities have also played a foundational role in training generations of clinical researchers, including those who went on to become global leaders and Nobel laureates, illustrating the far-reaching potential of sustained investment in this workforce. And yet, the number of clinically trained researchers in Scotland is declining at an alarming rate. This is especially evident at the crucial mid-career level—senior lecturers and research-active consultants—where we've seen a 30% drop over the last decade. These are the future leaders of our health system: those who secure major grants, mentor junior doctors, and help bridge the gap between lab bench and hospital ward. While the NHS workforce as a whole has expanded, its research arm is shrinking—and fast. The reasons are well known. Scotland currently lacks a dedicated, additional, ring-fenced funding stream to support the training and development of clinical academics. Without structural backing, research becomes optional—an extra task squeezed between clinics and night shifts. And yet, despite these pressures, many young doctors remain determined to pursue research careers—not because the system supports them, but in spite of it. It is time we did better for them—and for the future of Scottish healthcare. There is now a clear opportunity to reverse this trend. The Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research (OSCHR), through a taskforce led by Professor Patrick Chinnery and endorsed by leading national research bodies, has laid out a detailed and practical roadmap. Among its recommendations: the creation of a national clinical academic career framework, expansion of joint NHS–university research posts, and the integration of research pathways into routine NHS workforce planning. These are achievable goals. What's needed now is political will and national leadership. Scotland must adapt and implement these reforms without delay. That means coordinated action from NHS Education Scotland, the Chief Scientist Office, universities, health boards, and government. We also need visible champions—those willing to mentor, invest in, and inspire the next generation of research-active clinicians. We now face a choice. Do we allow this research capacity to wither, or do we build on it to create a health system that is smarter, faster, and fairer? The answer should be clear. If Scotland wants to remain a global leader in healthcare innovation, we must support the people who make it possible. At the heart of these discussions must be the public and patients we serve—because their future depends on it. This letter was co-authored by: Professor David Argyle, Vice Principal and Head of College of Medicine and Veterinary, University of Edinburgh; Professor David Blackbourn, Head of the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen; Professor Rory McCrimmon, Dean of the School of Medicine, University of Dundee; Professor Iain McInnes CBE, Vice Principal and Head of College, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow; and Professor Deborah Williamson, Dean of Medicine and Head of School, University of St Andrews.
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- The Herald Scotland
Hurricane researchers plan a 'fleet' of sharks to help forecasts
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