Read the Report.
Trenton, NJ – As the New Jersey Legislature considers passage of
a ground-breaking bill to cap global warming pollution, Environment New Jersey
released a new report today detailing the impact of global warming across the
state. The report, “An Unfamiliar State:
Local Impacts of Global Warming in New Jersey,” shows how life in New Jersey
could be irrevocably altered by rising seas, severe flooding, health-threatening
temperatures and air pollution, pest infestation, species decline and
challenges to critical public infrastructure.
“Without
decisive action to cut global warming pollution, we face the prospect of a
dramatically altered future that could completely change our way of life, and
not for the better,” said Suzanne Leta Liou, Global Warming and Clean Energy
Advocate for Environment New Jersey. “The
New Jersey
Legislature has an opportunity of a lifetime to help solve this urgent problem
by passing the Global Warming Response Act.”
The
Global Warming Response Act (A3301/S2114), introduced by Assemblywoman Linda
Stender and Senator Barbara Buono, requires a mandatory reduction of the
state’s global warming pollution to below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent
below current levels by 2050. The bill
passed unanimously through the Assembly and Senate environment committees, and
has garnered 49 Assembly co-sponsors and 17 Senate co-sponsors. Legislative leaders are now deciding whether
or not to hold votes on the bill for final passage by the end of June, before
the legislature breaks for the summer.
According
to “An Unfamiliar State,” if global warming pollution across the world
continues to rise, New Jersey
will be a different place in 100 years. Many
of the impacts in New Jersey
are projected to affect the mid-Atlantic region as a whole. Local impacts include:
The Shore: Inundated Boardwalks and
Receding Beaches
* North Wildwood
could be turned into an island, separated from Wildwood Crest by shallow
flooding from across New Jersey
Avenue.
* Cape May Beach would face accelerated erosion, and on average, Shore
beaches could retreat inland between 50 and 150 meters.
New
York Metropolitan Area: Vital Transit Infrastructure Under
Threat
* Both tunnels to New York, PATH and subway stations, the New Jersey
Turnpike, Newark and LaGuardia Airports and the
shipping terminals at Port Newark and Port
Elizabeth are subject to increasingly severe
interruptions due to more tidal surge flooding and stronger storms.
Urban New Jersey: Heat-Related Deaths
* In Newark, the number of
“hot days” – days above 90 degrees F – could more than double by 2020,
quadruple by mid-century. and rise to between 40 and 120 days per year by 2080.
Suburban New Jersey: Worsened Smog Pollution
* Extended heat
waves would enhance the conditions that lead to the formation of ground-level
ozone, or smog – already a serious threat to public health across New Jersey. In ten of New Jersey’s
suburban counties, including Hunterdon, Ocean, Somerset and Mercer counties, smog-related
deaths are predicted to increase between 3 to 10 percent above current levels
by 2050.
Highlands Corn and
Pinelands Blueberries: Longer Growing Seasons, More Threats to Crop Health
* Global warming could
create or exacerbate risks – including pests, weeds and excess heat – that
could pose serious challenges to corn farmers’ livelihoods in the Highlands.
* As temperatures
continue to rise, the southern range of the blueberry could move north. Higher temperatures are also projected to
increase evaporation of water from farm soils, leading to increased potential
for drought and more extremes of heat and precipitation that could damage blueberry
crops.
The Delaware River Valley:
More Dangerous Floods
* New Jersey has
been getting wetter; the average annual precipitation during the 1971-2005
period was more than three inches higher than the average from 1895-1970. The average annual precipitation from
2001-2006 was another inch higher still.
This level of precipitation will likely continue frequent flooding in
the Delaware River
Valley.
Camden: Water
Supply at Risk
* Camden could find increasing levels of salt water in its
drinking water, since global warming-induced sea-level rise would push the salt
front higher up the Delaware River. If the salt front reaches the Camden area, the city may
have to shut its water supply wells and find an alternate source of water. If the salt front recedes higher, it could
also affect the water supply in Philadelphia.
The Delaware Bay:
Reduced Numbers of Migratory Birds
* Earlier springs
and warmer winters could alter the timing of migration for birds across the
world, including the Red Knot, one of the most ambitious species of migratory
birds on earth that stops in the Delaware Bay for spawning.
The Pinelands: More Attacks from the
Southern Pine Beetle
* Species are
likely to decline in the Pinelands as their habitable range shifts northward
out of the Pinelands region. And as the
climate warms and the habitable range of the destructive Southern Pine Beetle moves
northward, wider beetle infestations could occur.
The
severity of the likely impacts of global warming will depend on how much global
warming pollution the world emits in the years to come. However, if the world begins to reduce
emissions now – and achieve steep reductions in global warming pollution in the
years ahead – we can still avoid the worst impacts of global warming. To do its “fair share” to reduce emissions,
the United States
must stabilize emissions at or below today’s levels by the end of this decade,
reduce emissions by at least 15 to 20 percent below today’s levels by 2020 and
reduce emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050.
“While
the Bush administration has resisted any serious efforts to tackle global
warming, the New Jersey Legislature can lead the way for change,” said Leta
Liou. “The strongest global warming
pollution cap in the nation is in the hands of our state leaders. We must take swift action to pass this bill
right away.”
