One of the major causes of global warming is that the Earth is 1.5℃ warmer than from pre-industrial levels, which is due in part to the emission of #greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. 

A rise in temperatures causes a bigger strain on people’s health. Ozone pollution will only become more prevalent in the future, hospitalizing more at-risk people. However, the most urgent issue in New Jersey is the rise in the sea level. Melting ice is swelling oceans, and the coastline of New Jersey is sinking and shrinking.  Ice sheets have pushed the Earth’s crust down into the mantle below, and the sinking will continue.

According to a Rutger study, the number of high-tide flooding days in Atlantic City, for instance, has increased since the mid-20th century, from an average of less than one per year in the 1950s to an average of 8 per year in the 2000s. A higher sea level gives future storms extra punch as their destructive waves surge ashore. Warmer ocean temperatures give fuel to future hurricanes, which are increasing in number and size. 

Humans are the driving factor of this climate change. Burning fossil fuels releases carbon monoxide into the atmosphere, which acts like a blanket and traps heat before it escapes into the atmosphere. The best solution to curb climate change is to minimize greenhouse gas emissions. This would reduce hazards of future storms, and vulnerable New Jersey communities could then reasonable plan for limited effects of climate change.