Before we look into the evidence of climate change, it is important to understand why our climate is changing. In the first video, Dr. Debra Tillinger, an oceanographer, describes the mechanisms causing our atmosphere to warm, and explains why the warming varies around the globe. In the final video of this section, Dr. Robinson provides more information about the evidence for climate change in New Jersey, and helps make the connection between sunny-day flooding and climate change in New Jersey.

Now that we have an understanding of the basics of our climate system and we have explored evidence of global and local climate change, we want to understand what to expect in the future. To do this, we need to explore feedbacks and forcings that move our climate system away from stability. Watch the video “What are Feedbacks and Forcings?”, in which Dr. Tillinger explains how feedbacks and forcings affect the climate system. Understanding these interactions will help us understand the challenges of creating models to predict the future of our climate system. In his third video, Dr. Robinson explains how we monitor the climate system, including sea level rise, in New Jersey. What can we expect to happen to sea levels in New Jersey in the future? Can we expect more sunny-day flooding?

In this final part of the course, we will explore the impacts of climate change in New Jersey, and what can be done about it. In his final remarks, Dr. Robinson wraps up what we know about sunny-day flooding now and in the future, and provides his thoughts about solutions for the climate change impacts in New Jersey.