Parts of Christchurch will feel the impacts of sea-level rise earlier than expected because the land is sinking, according to new data. Large areas from Woodend to Lake Ellesmere, including Banks Peninsula, are subsiding up to three millimetres per year, which means an extra 30 centimetres of sea-level rise over the next 100 years. The data has come from NZ SeaRise, a five-year research programme funded by the Government involving 30 local and international experts. It has taken into account the natural rises and falls of the country’s coastline, as well as climate change and warming temperatures to project sea level rises.