Global Warming In the News

Star-Ledger Staff

Wildwood's famous boardwalk could be under water. Smog in the suburbs, heat-related deaths in Newark and beetle infestations in the Pinelands all could worsen. The Holland Tunnel could be closed every five years on average -- because of flooding.

Or New Jersey could become a nationwide leader by passing "the strongest, most comprehensive global warming legislation in the country."

That was the choice outlined yesterday by Suzanne Leta Liou of the nonprofit group Environment New Jersey, who strongly urged the latter course of action.

"If we don't take drastic action, global warming will touch every corner of New Jersey," Liou said at a news conference at the Statehouse. She unveiled a 40-page report detailing how unchecked global warming could degrade the quality of life in the Garden State, from rising sea levels and lost beaches to the decline of species such as the red knot, a migratory bird.

The report drew criticism from a representative of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association. "Reports like this may be scary, but they are not helpful," said Sara Bluhm, assistant vice president for energy affairs. "They do nothing to help us figure out how we are going to reduce global warming."

Some of the report's more dire predictions, such as a 2-foot sea level rise that would swallow 1 percent of the state's land area, might take 100 years to materialize.

Using projections by the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on rising sea levels, Liou and her co-authors, Travis Madsen and Timothy Telleen-Lawton of the Frontier Group, calculated how New Jersey would fare over the next century.

Among their conclusions: Cape May could lose 160 to 500 feet of beach. Other ocean beaches could shrink or disappear. North Wildwood could become an island, separated from Wildwood Crest by flooding across New Jersey Avenue.

"We could potentially see the Ferris wheels of Wildwood going under water by the next century," Liou said.

Low-lying areas that remained dry would be at increased risk for flooding during storms, which would become both more common and more severe.

"Higher seas could put the Holland Tunnel at risk of flooding with up to 3 feet of water every five years," the report states. "Newark Airport, the Lincoln Tunnel and key highway links would also be increasingly vulnerable to flooding."

Other consequences of global warming could occur more quickly. Compared with 1990 levels, deaths from heat exhaustion and heat stroke could triple by 2020 in Newark, where temperatures are about 5 degrees hotter than in rural areas.

Warmer temperatures would encourage the southern pine beetle, which has infested 2,000 acres of Pinelands forest, to spread farther north, attacking more trees. The red knot, which flies 2,000 miles from its winter home in South America to the Arctic, could be endangered if, because of earlier springs, its stopover in New Jersey no longer coincided with its food source: spawning horseshoe crabs.

Liou explained that examples such as Wildwood and the red knot were intended to dramatize broader ecological impacts: shrinking beaches up and down the coast and the possible loss of 37 species of birds, according to the New Jersey Audubon Society.

Global warming could produce some winners. The report said farmers might benefit from longer growing seasons but also would face increased threats from pests, weeds and cycles of drought and flooding.

Jeanne Herb, director of policy, planning and science at the state Department of Environmental Protection, said in terms of global warming's impact on ports, tourism and agriculture, "New Jersey definitely comes out a loser."

Liou urged support for a pair of bills in the Legislature (A3301 and S2114) that would require the DEP to develop a plan to progressively reduce pollution responsible for global warming, starting with a reduction to 1990 levels by 2020. An executive order issued by Gov. Jon Corzine in February set similar goals, as an international conference in Kyoto, Japan.

Both bills have been approved by the environment committees in their respective houses and face further review by other committees.

The New Jersey Business and Industry Association opposes the legislation, contending it "simply imposes new fees on the business community, drives up the cost of electricity, and does so with no global environmental benefit."

The association's Bluhm said driving up rates for electricity produced in New Jersey would simply mean more will be generated in Pennsylvania, with no reduction in emissions.

"Realistically, New Jersey facing this alone is simply ineffective," Bluhm said. "Ideally we would like a national approach, but if that's not possible, we need to address it regionally."

Liou agreed "national action is absolutely needed," but to get that, she said, states must lead the way.

The report is available on Environment New Jersey's Web site (www.environmentnewjersey.org). Robert Schwaneberg may be reached at rschwaneberg@starledger.com or (609) 989-0324.