Not so long ago I had never even heard of a sinkhole. Now I fear for my life thanks to these blooming things.
They are taking over the world, aren’t they? Before long we will be living on tiny islands and jumping from one to another to avoid falling into the depths of the planet. So what are these sinkholes all about in the first place?
The Pragmatic UK Sinkhole Approach

The UK is one of the places suffering from a spate of sinkholes. The Brits are keeping their upper lip as stiff as possible, though, and taking a pragmatic approach to them. They aren’t panicking and blaming them on aliens or devilish little people who live under the soil. No, they blame it on the weather. Actually this shouldn’t be a big surprise, as the Brits blame everything on the weather. The full explanation has something to do with chalky soil and persistent precipitation but I fell asleep while I was reading it, so I don’t know how it ends.
The US Sinkhole Conspiracy

There are plenty of sinkholes in the US as well but I don’t see many people on the internet discussing soil conditions or unusually heavy rainfall. Oh no, the Americans need to have a conspiracy theory about it. It is something to do with the Pope and biblical prophecies, or maybe Obama. No one seems to have blamed the aliens or the ghost of Elvis yet but it’s surely only a matter of time.
The Giant Guatemala Sinkhole

Probably the most famous sinkhole photo around is this one from Guatemala City. I couldn’t find any Guatemalan sinkhole forums to see what the locals think of it. Actually, it seems that this technically isn’t a sinkhole at all, as it was partially caused by man. Water leaking from dodgy sewage pipes combined with a tropical storm caused this 20 metre wide and 30 metre deep hole to appear.
The Mysterious Chinese Sinkholes

One of the countries most affected by the mysterious sinkhole phenomenon is China. This photo is of a giant hole in Guangzhou, which swallowed two buildings. The local authorities are said to have filled in the hole in less than 24 hours, which is pretty darned efficient when you think about it. Another sinkhole of 200 feet wide is said to have swallowed a dozen buildings in the Sichuan province. I don’t know if it is due to the rain or a biblical prophecy but some cities are even said to be at risk of disappearing off the face of the map altogether due to sinkholes.
The Belize Reef Sinkhole
Perhaps the strangest sinkhole of all is in Belize. The utterly weird thing about it is that it is in the sea, rather than on dry land. It is said to be 300 metres wide, over 120 metres deep and is called The Great Blue Hole. It is the oldest sinkhole we have seen so far and is said to be, hey, great for scuba diving.
The Venezuela Sinkhole

This is another famous old sinkhole. It is called Sima Humboldt and is in the jungle in Venezuela. It is over 500 metres deep and looks pretty spectacular. Just take care not to fall in it.
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