The Shore’s Future: Living With Storms & Sea Level Rise

Organized by ISGP in coordination cooperation with several local partners, including the Barnegat Bay Partnership and the Barnegat Bay Foundation with financial support provided by the Jay and Linda Grunin Foundation, this free, invitation-only two-day conference  focused on exploring the personal, economic, and community-wide significance of climate issues relevant to the Toms River, NJ area. 

Conference announcement (pdf)

Three nationally recognized experts debated their respective policy position papers, which expressed their views of current realities, scientific opportunities and challenges, and policy related to extreme weather and sea-level rise in the Toms River area:

• Thomas R. Knutson, Ph.D., Research Meteorologist, Climate Dynamics and Prediction Group, Geophysical Fluids Dynamics Lab, NOAA, Princeton, NJ
• Karen O’Neill, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Human Ecology, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 
• Harold Wanless, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Geological Sciences, University of Miami, FL

Policy Position papers

The Coming Reality of Sea Level Rise Along the New Jersey Coast: Too Fast Too Soon

Harold R. Wanless, Ph.D.
The reality of accelerating rates of sea level rise as the result of human-induced global warming is becoming increasingly dire and urgently needs to ...

Adapting to Climate Change on the Coast: Changing Values, Behavior, and Policies

Karen M. O’Neill, Ph.D.
Coasts are experiencing the effects of climate change at the same time that coastal populations are growing.  Even if we reduce carbon emissions, we ...

New Jersey Shore’s Future: Coping with Climate Change and Storm Risk

Thomas R. Knutson
Some observed climate changes and events are easier to link to human causes and make projections for the 21st century than others.  Storm risk and se...