Abstract
The first New Jersey Science and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) on Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Storms was convened by Rutgers University on behalf of the NJ Climate Change Alliance in 2015, culminating in a 2016 report that identified planning options for practitioners to enhance the resilience of New Jersey’s people, places, and assets to sea-level rise, coastal storms, and the resulting flood risk (Kopp et al., 2016). An innovative approach used to inform the 2016 report was the complementary convening of a panel of practitioners to offer insights on the application of the STAP science to state and local planning and decision-making. Following the same process, the same team at Rutgers University was engaged by the State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to update the 2016 report based on the most current scientific information. Similar to the inaugural work, the 2019 STAP was charged with identifying and evaluating the most current science on sea-level rise projections and changing coastal storms, considering the implications for the practices and policies of local and regional stakeholders, and providing practical options for stakeholders to incorporate science into risk-based decision processes. The 2019 STAP process recommended the following key updates to the 2016 STAP report: Making available historical sea-level rise (SLR) information for New Jersey to provide a frame of reference for future projections; Updating information on ice sheet dynamics; Expanding consideration of tidal flooding; and Expanding consideration of storm tide-related flooding. This report integrates the 2019 key STAP updates and should be considered the most recent reference in this series.