Protect New Jersey from Catastrophic Flooding
Just the Facts
New Jersey's Rising Seas and Changing Coastal Storms
Report of the 2019 Science and Technology Advisory Panel
In 2016 Rutgers University convened a New Jersey Science and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) on Sea-Level Rise and Changing Coastal Storms to synthesize for practitioners the most recent climate science needed to inform efforts to increase the resilience of New Jersey’s people, places, and assets (including infrastructure, communities and natural resources) to regional sea-level rise (SLR), changing coastal storms and the resulting flood risk.
REPORTS AND STUDIES
2020 New Jersey Scientific Report on Climate Change
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s first scientific report on climate change summarizes the current state of knowledge regarding the effects of climate change on New Jersey’s environment. This report collects the best available science and existing data regarding the current and anticipated environmental effects of climate change globally, nationally, regionally, and locally to present state-specific information to inform State and local decision-makers as they understand and respond to its impacts.
Economic Impacts of Climate Change in New Jersey
A Review and Assessment Conducted by the Center for Integrative Environmental Research, University of Maryland
The debate to date has primarily focused on the perceived costs of alternative solutions, yet there can also be significant costs of inaction. Climate change will affect our water, energy, transportation, and public health systems, as well as state economies as climate change impact a wide range of important economic sectors from agriculture to manufacturing to tourism. This report, part of a series of state studies, highlights the economic impacts of climate change in New Jersey and provides examples of additional ripple effects such as reduced spending in other sectors and resulting losses of jobs, wages, and even tax revenues.
OTHER RESEARCH
Sea Level Rise in New Jersey
Projections and Impacts
Sea level rise poses a threat to people and property in coastal areas around the world and is especially acute in New Jersey. Sea level at the Jersey Shore has risen about 18 inches since the early 1900s, more than twice the global mean of about 8 inches. Even more concerning, the rate of sea level rise is accelerating.
Hurricane
Ida
National Hurricane Center Tropical Storm Report
Ida was a category 4 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale) that caused catastrophic damage when it made landfall in southeastern Louisiana. It also made landfall in western Cuba as a category 1 hurricane. Ida later became an extratropical low that caused heavy rain and deadly flooding in the northeastern United States.
Hurricane
Sandy
National Hurricane Center Tropical Storm Report
Because of its tremendous size, however, Sandy drove a catastrophic storm surge into the New Jersey and New York coastlines. Preliminary U.S. damage estimates are near $50 billion, making Sandy the second-costliest cyclone to hit the United States since 1900.