it's the single biggest issue facing New

Jersey syros that's what the State

Department of Environmental Protection

says based on reported Commission

Rutgers scientists to conduct the study

predicts the sea to rise more than a

foot by 20 32 feet by twenty fifty six

feet by the end of the century if

nothing changes house of your sea level

rises depends upon what we has a global

civilization do about our agreement

greenhouse gas emissions how much

pollution how much emissions how much

carbon dioxide we put in the air we need

to be looking at it radical

transformation of our energy system and

our transportation system otherwise

coastal areas Atlantic City the Jersey

Shore will see more high tide or

so-called sunny day flooding flooding

not the result of a storm but from sea

rise the study found it used to happen

less than once a year in the 1950s now

ten times a year the study's prediction

up to 75 days a year by 2030 I think the

people on the shore recognize that tidal

flooding is happening more frequently

right that can cut people off from their

cars it can cut people off from you know

they can't get to where they're going

even though it's sometimes called

nuisance flooding it has a real economic

impact

professor Cobb says this research is not

meant to overwhelm any one person but it

does beg the question what can you do

about it he has some answers so we have

to make our communities more resilient

to that more frequent flooding so that

includes things looking at building

codes that include things like thinking

about buyouts in the aftermath of a

disaster and it includes sort of

long-term communal thinking about what

the long-term shape of our coastal

communities are we need to get on a path

towards net zero greenhouse gas

emissions that's the only way to

stabilize the global climate are we on

the path to any of the things that you

just described

you know emissions have growth has

slowed down but emissions are still

growing so you know we have to you know

that curve was going up really quickly

now it's going up less quickly but we

really have we have to get that curve of

Green global emissions going down to

zero in order to stabilize the kind of

climate as long as carbon dioxide is

going into the atmosphere the planets

going to keep warming DEP Commissioner

Katherine McCabe says New Jersey has

much to lose if we do not act

quickly and decisively to adapt to the

realities of climate change this study

illustrates the sobering reality that

our coastal landscape will change

drastically and we must act with urgency

to ensure the long-term viability of our

coastal and waterfront communities the

science is only as good as the practice

of its implementation Jeanne herb of the

Rutgers blaustein school helps

policymakers put the science into action

what we hear over and over and over

again from communities is that they want

to plan for changing climate conditions

but they're not sure how last spring we

did a survey a statewide survey here in

New Jersey and what we heard was that at

least two-thirds of New Jerseyans were

either very concerned or concerned about

climate change but less than a quarter

of New Jerseyans knew a lot about what

to do about climate change herb says

that apply to decision makers as well

but Rutgers is working to change the

climate Michael Hill NJTV news

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