Illustration by Edward Andilema / SOC Images.
Throughout the years, New Jersey has experienced some drastic weather from heat waves to snowstorms and earthquakes to wildfires.
Hudson County is at risk of facing up to six feet of flooding, according to New Jersey risk finder, which would be a direct impact of the melting Greenland and Arctic ice glaciers. This would not only impact the shores of the Hudson River, but could also damage buildings and lead to displaced people across the county. By 2050, about 32% of homes would be at risk of major flooding.
While climate change is a global issue, what is Hudson County doing to fight against it?
“Hudson County can do a lot to help with climate change, improving public transportation like adding more buses and trains…Planting more trees and creating more parks would help clean air and cool down the city,” Jersey City Resident Juliette Pangilinan told Slice of Culture.
“… I have definitely noticed weather changes in Hudson County, storms have gotten stronger and heavy rain often leads to flooding especially in Jersey City.”
Most cities, like Hoboken, are well underway to reducing their climate footprint with a Zero Waste initiative. The Zero Waste initiative aims to increase current operations by identifying efficiencies, which will try to adjust things such as garbage, recycling, organics, reuse/repair and education and public spaces.
With this initiative, Hoboken is trying to rethink how they manage their waste throughout the city by reusing, helping lower the cost of the management process and decreasing the amount of waste that is produced.
While Hoboken is taking action against climate change, many other cities like Union City are also trying to do something.
The North Hudson town aims to bring down their emissions “to 80 percent of 2006 levels by 2050,” according to a 2023 draft community energy plan. On page 8, the draft outlines initiatives to help achieve this as:
- Support the use of electric vehicles by increasing the presence of charging stations
- Zoning to permit private solar installations and community solar projects
- Installing on-site renewable energy generation systems on municipal properties
- Improving energy efficiency of municipal buildings
- Encouraging developers to adopt green building practices
- Educating and engaging the public in a collective effort to reduce energy consumption to renewable energy sources
But some Hudson County residents and organizations think there is more to be done in the county.
Such as Sustainable JC, an organization that aims to empower and activate their community to educate themselves about the importance of protecting the environment.
“Everyday people can reduce their energy use both at home and at work, e.g., low-hanging fruit includes addressing lighting (use LED bulbs, dimmer switches and turn off lighting when you leave a room!) and ‘vampire energy,’ (consider smart plugs) and consider ways to reduce their transportation-related emissions (use of electric vehicles or no vehicles at all – bike or walk).
Sustainable JC Founder and Chair Debra Italiano told Slice of Culture.
Everyone should consider reducing their waste footprints – while most people are in touch with Reduce / Reuse / Recycle.”
Jersey City also has what seems to be a Resiliency Plan that is targeted to help residents be better prepared for climate change related issues such as flooding and heat waves.
However, their last updated plan was in 2019. On page 18, they lay out their plan, which identifies their vulnerabilities including: social, economic and physical. On pages 20 to 21, they also map out visuals to the most affected areas of the city, due to their proximity to the water.
Gensler, a design firm, also recently published recommendations, in collaboration with multiple organizations including Sustainable JC, that focuses on making three Jersey City neighborhoods of Monticello, Bergen-Lafayette, and Greenville more equitable and environmentally sustainable.
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With multiple Hudson County cities setting up plan to combat climate change there is still a long way to go before anything is changed, and due to the results of rising temperatures, health issues are sure to be on the rise.
“The extreme weather events predicted for New Jersey, including heat waves and heavy precipitation, can lead to both immediate and long-term effects on cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal and mental health,” stated on the scientific report for the state of New Jersey in 2020.
Not only can it lead to long term effects, but the state can see more instances of cardiovascular issues within city hubs such as Jersey City and Union City.
“SJC has focused on the Urban Heat Island issue for some years, and we are a proponent of not only reducing emissions directly, which are the root cause of our planet heating up (in JC, 67% of the emissions here are caused by building system combustion, think heating and air conditioning – the push is to now electrification of HVAC systems with many government/utility incentives to do so),” Italiano added.
“But [also] immediately lowering the temperature where people are living and working through more Green Infrastructure, including restoration of the Tree Canopy in Jersey City and other municipalities in Hudson County. Where GI is not possible, Shade Structures in public spaces, including roofs, should be implemented.”
For more information on how climate change affects public health, resources from healthcare providers and other actions you can take, visit: https://www.nj.gov/health/ceohs/public-health-tracking/climate-change/.
