New Jersey's densely populated coastline is in danger of becoming vastly altered because sea levels are rising - triggered by the world's glaciers melting at the fastest rate ever recorded, a leading glaciologist has concluded. Rising global temperatures, caused in part by greenhouse gas emissions, are precipitating the glacial melt, which will add 3 feet to the world's sea levels by 2100 if remedial action isn't taken now, said Lonnie G. Thompson, a world-renowned expert on glaciers and professor at Ohio State University.
At state and federal levels, officials are working to stem the glacial melt through legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to cut America's greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 using methods including a cap and trade program in which businesses are given a pollution allowance and must buy credits from other businesses to be permitted to discharge more pollutants.
Global warming, or the rise in the world's temperature, has the potential to dramatically alter New Jersey's landscape and environment. Besides the projected sea level rise, global warming is expected to cause more deaths from heat and smog in cities, make the state more susceptible to storm surges and floods, and cause an influx of non-native animals and plants.
By the end of the 21st century, Thompson predicts, the global temperature will rise by 3 degrees Celsius, triggering a glacial melt that will envelop sections of North Jersey, including Edgewater, Hoboken, Jersey City, Liberty State Park, Bayonne, the Meadowlands, Newark, Newark Liberty International Airport, Carteret and Roselle.
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