Four Megalopolitan Coastal Transformation Hub (MACH) members, including Rutgers University staff and faculty members Victoria Ramenzoni, Jeanne Herb, Lisa Auermuller, and University at Albany, SUNY faculty member DeeDee Bennett Gayle, were selected by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Kaleta A. Doolin Foundation (KADF) to serve as NSF-KADF Ocean Decade Champions. NSF and KADF have joined together to empower 31 women scientists associated with …
In August of this year, Lisa Auermuller, the Administrative Director of the Megalopolitan Coastal Transformation Hub, led a group of 17 graduate students, postdocs, and staff on a week-long tour of New Jersey’s diverse shorelines. As part of the tour, the group visited the Rutgers University Marine Field Station (RUMFS), and heard from Director Oscar Schofield about RUMFS’ history, future …
The rapid sea level rise and resulting retreat of coastal habitat seen at the end of the last Ice Age could repeat itself if global average temperatures rise beyond certain levels, according to an analysis by an international team of scientists from more than a dozen institutions, including Rutgers. In a study published in Nature, scientists reported how ancient coastal habitats …
The hardest part, experts find, is communicating “unquantifiable” uncertainty. Scientists have long struggled to find the best way to present crucial facts about future sea level rise, but are getting better at communicating more clearly, according to an international group of climate scientists, including a leading Rutgers expert. The consequences of improving communications are enormous, the scientists said, as civic …
Sea levels along the U.S. Southeast and Gulf coasts have been rapidly accelerating, reaching record-breaking rates over the past 12 years, according to a new study led by scientists at Tulane University. In the study, published in Nature Communications, researchers said they had detected rates of sea-level rise of about a half an inch per year since 2010. They attribute …
After the North Sea Flood of 1953, it took nearly 45 years to finalize the Delta Works. If we want to protect The Netherlands against sea-level rise, we shouldn’t wait too long. But how much time do we have left? An international team of researchers from Utrecht University, Deltares, and NIOZ, among others, devised a new method to calculate when …
Getting hit with one hurricane is bad enough, but new research from Princeton Engineering shows that back-to-back versions may become common for many areas in coming decades. Driven by a combination of rising sea levels and climate change, destructive hurricanes and tropical storms could become far more likely to hit coastal areas in quick succession, researchers found. In an article …
Multiple MACH members recently collaborated to provide extensive feedback on the draft New York and New Jersey Harbor & Tributaries Focus Area Feasibility Study (HATS). According to the US Army Corps of Engineers: “Coastal storms have severely impacted the North Atlantic Coast of the United States, including the New York-New Jersey Harbor region. In response to these storms, the US …
A new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change examines the potential cost of unrealized flood risk in the American real estate market, finding that flood zone property prices are overvalued by US$121–US$237 billion. Authored by researchers from Environmental Defense Fund, First Street Foundation, Resources for the Future, the Federal Reserve, and several academic institutions, the study also examined how unpriced …
