Now 4.6 inches may not sound like much because many people stretching from their thumbs to their pinkies measure over 6 inches, but it’s a lot if you’re talking about sea level rise. Since 2010, the sea has risen that much in the Outer Banks, and another house has fallen into the sea.
Right now about 16% of New Jersey lies within a FEMA floodplain. Doesn’t sound like much unless you live near a flood plain—Not just the Shore, but Manville, Paterson. The NJ DEP has submitted a proposal to expand flood-prone areas to 17.5% with new regulations on building. Developers may not be happy but they don’t live in the houses they build and sell to unsuspecting buyers.
Taking sea level rise and its effects inland is necessary. Beach “replenishment” this past year in New Jersey amounted to $52 million, 65% from the feds and the balance from the State and local municipalities, the same municipalities that objected to wind turbine power. But as King Canute learned, you can’t stop the sea no matter who you are.
Prayer for the Day
You created sea and land in balance, O God,
But we have corrupted your creation with greed;
Your world is in peril from ignorance and carelessness,
For our generation seems not to care for the future.
Awaken us, O Creator, into seeing what we have done,
And move us to right our wrongs as quickly as possible.
In the name of the One who is our guide,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Back in November of last year, we started looking out the windows as we were doing our walks and we realized there was no way we were going to have a beach this summer.
Bill Callahan, Ocean Casino Resort, Atlantic City, manager
What if we did something different with that money? What if we spent that money instead on a more long lasting solution? The state is stuck on a hamster wheel it is unwilling to break out of.
John Weber, environmental group Surfside Foundation
And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place; and let dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together God called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:9-10