Denver might be known as the Mile High City, but it's got nothing on Mexico City. The capital's elevation is an astonishing 2240 meters — and as high as almost 4 kilometers (2.4 miles), dwarfing Denver. For now, at least.

That's because Mexico City is sinking at the rate of 50 centimeters per year. Building such a metropolis on top of a drained lake was probably not a great idea... but who could have known at the time?

If this rate continues, in 1262 short years (this will takes us to 3284) Mexico City will equal Denver. By the year 6500, it will start sinking below the surface, with only those highest elevations, the now-4-km mount Ajusco, peaking above the horizon...

So it does make some sense that recently Mexico City elected not a politician, but a scientist — Berkeley-educated physicist Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo — to be its mayor. Sheinbaum's specialty is climate change, which would seem to go quite well with Mexico City's problems even beyond the sinking (the notorious pollution, for one). Surprisingly, in a country of Catholics, Sheinbaum is Jewish (maybe not so surprising considering her surname). She's even been mentioned as a potential presidential candidate down the line.

An environmental scientist to run a nation... No, we would not be pining for Mexico even if it happens, but it surely beats a reality show buffoon!

(Editor's update, June 3, 2024: Now Mexico's first female President!)