New Brunswick, N.J. (Aug. 28, 2019) – Rutgers coastal expert Lisa Auermuller is available for interviews on the “king tide” in New Jersey, which will lead to abnormally high water levels through Labor Day, causing localized tidal flooding and illustrating the impact of sea-level rise from climate change.
Auermuller, assistant manager at the Rutgers-administered Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve, is overseeing a New Jersey-wide coastal “Capture the King Tide” effort on Facebook to crowd-source photos of the extremely high tides as a result of a new moon. Event hashtags are #BeTheEyesOnTheRise and #CaptureTheKingTide.
Today’s king tides will be average tides in the future due to sea-level rise from climate change. Project participants will help document areas already experiencing nuisance flooding. The data and photos will be publicly available. The Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve sponsored a similar citizen science event in 2017.
“We think of king tides as a way for people to get a look at future flooding that will be caused by sea-level rise,” said Auermuller. “A phrase I like to use is ‘today’s high tides are tomorrow’s everyday tides.’ The difference is that a king tide comes and goes, but in the future with sea-level rise, the new water level heights will represent permanent inundation. The crowd-sourcing of data puts the power of citizen observations into everyone’s hands.”
For an interview with Lisa Auermuller, please contact Todd Bates at [email protected]
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Broadcast interviews: Rutgers University has broadcast-quality TV and radio studios available for remote live or taped interviews with Rutgers experts. For more information, contact Neal Buccino at [email protected]
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