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Dawnawaken92 t1_jcm7ygr wrote

The cause of these crevices is a geothermal drilling operation in 2007 that went awry. To harness geothermal energy, the drillers had to perforate a layer of groundwater and a separate layer of anhydrite, a water-free chemical substance. Unfortunately, this process inadvertently increased the amount of pressure in the ground below Staufen, which allowed the groundwater to bleed into the anhydrite.

The resulting chemical reaction formed gypsum, which caused Staufen’s ground to swell by up to five inches, depending on the exact location. Although the local government has taken steps to mitigate this problem, the rising ground has reached a point of no return and continues to rise at a rate of about one centimeter per year.

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Loki-L t1_jcmfjpe wrote

That is mentioned in the Tom Scott video too. I guess Staufen is either the worst hit or the most photogenic example of that particular group. Certainly a nearly 5 century old city hall slowly being torn apart makes it more of an attention getter than the other ones.

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fachan t1_jcmy69c wrote

Meanwhile, almost 50 (and counting!) similar villages have been destroyed for just one coal mine

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/28/1010956116/a-coal-mining-monster-is-threatening-to-swallow-a-small-town-in-germany

And this German mine continues to consume villages and (a wind farm) even thought they don't even need the coal

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/14/europe/lutzerath-germany-coal-protests-climate-intl/index.html

>An August report by international research platform Coal Transitions found that even if coal plants operate at very high capacity until the end of this decade, they already have more coal available than needed from existing supplies.

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