Rising Seawater May Engulf Thousands Of NJ Buildings By 2050: Report

NEW JERSEY — Thousands of coastal New Jersey homes and buildings are on pace to go underwater during high tide by 2050, according to a recent analysis of rising sea levels. Climate change's impacts would also leave tens of thousands of other properties exposed to more frequent flooding, according to Climate Central.

Coastal flooding has become an increasingly severe problem in New Jersey and the United States. Climate change accelerates the rates of sea-level rise, warming ocean waters as melting glaciers and ice sheets flow into the sea, the report states. As a result, coastal flooding is shifting the tide lines that many coastal states use to delineate boundaries between public and private property, according to Climate Central, a Princeton-based nonprofit science and news organization.

As property owners lose land and buildings, local property-tax revenues may decline, threatening a primary source of funding for schools and local-government services, the report says. And in New Jersey, those floods would most significantly impact the Jersey Shore — an economically important region for the entire state.

"The financial impact of sea level rise extends far beyond coastal property owners," said Dr. Benjamin Strauss, Climate Central's chief scientist. "Even inland communities may see funding for public services erode as flooded properties come off county tax rolls."

Climate Central projects 6,125 New Jersey buildings at risk of falling below rising sea levels by 2050. County-level reports show how much the shifting climate could impact some of New Jersey's more vulnerable coastal communities.

For instance, Climate Central projects 53,920 land parcels in Ocean County — 12.8 percent of the county's total of 422,102 parcels — with a taxable land value of $5.86 billion to be in the annual flood-risk zone by 2030. The figures climb to 66,640 parcels (15.8 percent of the county's tax base) valued at $9.89 billion by 2050 and then 92,462 (21.9 percent) of parcels becoming part of the annual flood-risk zone by 2100.

Ultimately, reducing and eventually eliminating carbon pollution will prevent the issue from worsening, according to Climate Central. But the organization says the following actions can help coastal communities:

• Adjusting land-use policies to encourage development outside the risk zones, while limiting new growth in the risk zones.
• Participating in the National Flood Insurance Program and the Community Rating System incentives to help improve financial resilience for residents, indirectly supporting the tax base.
• Using science-based analysis to inform investments in infrastructure interventions, such as improving stormwater systems, raising roadways, building levees or improving coastal wetlands that will — at least for a time — help protect the tax base.
• Educating and informing taxpayers so that they may constructively participate in adapting the local economy and tax base to the rising sea.

Climate Central used peer-reviewed modeling and mapping tools of sea-level rise from Regrid — a data company that collects standardized parcel boundaries and property-assessment information across the nation. See Climate Central's full national report.