JOHN GATTUSO / NJ MUNICIPALITIES – The effects of climate change are being felt around the world, and New Jersey is no exception. Residents of the Garden State are experiencing heavier rains, warmer temperatures, and more frequent and intense coastal flooding, and scientists expect these trends to escalate through the 21st century.

According to the NJDEP’s 2020 Scientific Report on Climate Change, “the Northeastern United States will be especially vulnerable to impacts of climate change and the potential ecological, economic, and public health impacts could be devastating.”

Understanding municipal climate risk
For municipalities grappling with the implications of climate change, and especially for those working toward plan endorsement, understanding their community’s climate risk is an essential first step. To address this need, a team at Rutgers University working under the umbrella of the New Jersey Climate Change Resource Center (NJCCRC) has developed a suite of online mapping tools to visualize climate risk at scales ranging from neighborhoods to the entire state …