Why chronic floods are coming to New Jersey 

Some annotations that might be interesting for the curious: Early in the video I mentioned that New Jersey is sinking. There's a whole lot more on that point. You can hear from an array of Rutgers University professors on the issue in this fantastic documentary produced by the university in 2016: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-G7YJgsliy1g.html I also mention the Hudson River Tunnel in passing. Regional Plan Association produced this great explainer video detailing the vulnerabilities facing the entire Northeast Corridor: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-H1xPZYiQEUY.html - Carlos W.

Time to hire the Dutch. They've been fighting the sea for 800 years and are still winning.

Let's build a bunch of flood walls and make the ocean pay for it.

The thought of being stuck on a train and waiting for high tide to go out before continuing is a powerful mental image. They should start using that in advertising campaigns.

Imagine living in New Jersey, waking up, opening RU-vid and seeing this at the top of your sub box. My day is already ruined.

*Laughs in Dutch*

Why are we still worrying about this?! I thought that by withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement this problem would magically go away.

Why don’t people listen to smart people??

Ocean: accidentally spills its glass of water

Anyone wanna go splitsies on a houseboat? In a few years, we can probably go sailing around Vermont 😉

I live in New Jersey and I love it so much and it’s so beautiful in my opinion

It's almost like there were warnings about rising sea levels that we ignored and continue to ignore.

Being from NJ, I can tell you no one in that state even talks about this issue. NJ has been steadily eroding every natural region for the sake of fueling real estate bubbles. Even though numerous environmentalist warn that further erosion of these areas will have serious economic impact on the region. Hurricane Sandy was actually a vindication of many of those warnings, as the unspoken factor for the majority of the property damage along the coast was a consequence of lax zoning and environmental protection brought on by real estate developers lobbying. Many of those home owners were not even aware they bought a house on property that was deemed in a potentially dangerous or hazardous zone. I don't think some of the major economic impacts will be as pronounced as the end of the video warned. In my opinion much of the infrastructure will be protected with retaining walls or raising them. In a longer timeline this environmental impact will have serious implication on the future growth and development of the Northeast Corridor, and we may start to see a new urban metropolis growing and supplanting NYC, but that might happen in 100 years. For the foreseeable future, no expense will be spared to maintain the viability of that Washington/Philadelphia/NYC/Boston corridor.

The Newark airport is also in the meadowlands. Imagine having to wait for the sea level to go down in order to take off.

Not for anything - it's not just New Jersey - but New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts on up the coast. And yeah - I've been through there on I-95 and I get wary of what's going to happen soon.I live in Providence and pretty near the Woonasquatucket river - and that baby floods every now and then particularly in the Valley section of Providence and what runs through there but the rails going south. And downtown Providence has flooded twice in the 20th century, 1938 and 1954. Now there are huge pumps and big barriers to eject storm water out. Plus two huge tunnels under the city to capture excess rainfall.

i live in new jersey and this is the first time i have ever heard of this LMAo

Global warming

Hi from NJ. Good video

Would love to hear people's thoughts on: *Prevent/Adapt/Retreat* *Which do you think should be opted for and why?*

boomers be like, "who cares? I'll be dead in 20 years"

Water is coming To our houses.

Or we could call up Thanos to *ahem* help us with our problem.

Song at 0:50 sounds like it comes right out of RuneScape 2007.

"Feminists and sjws flooded the streets" Sargon of Akkkad

I live in North Wildwood, South New Jersey. A boardwalk town. Even with the slightest rain all of the streets are flooded. At high tide the water goes all the way up to the boards. My town was ruined by Sandy. Some places still haven’t recovered. It’s terrible.

I don’t get why people don’t see the economic opportunity here. You should be building these climate change protections into your city so when everyone else is flooded, people move to your city. Might not pay off now but will sure will in 20 years or so.

Get Dutch engineers to fix the problem

Thank God I have a DVD of Waterworld just for this.

Here you are worrying about flooding for New Jersey that’s going to be happening in 20 years, yet Houston and New Orleans have been flooding in this way for years. You don’t have to look so far into the future to see this kind of problem.

There is already this problem in Charleston but on a slightly smaller scale.

Seeing my own city of Ocean City in this video was very eye opening, flooding has always been a problem but I'd only thought of it as an excuse to get school canceled. Time to start thinking towards the future so that my city will still be there in 20-50 years.

But...but FOX News, uhm , says something else and it's cold outside!

The saddest thing is, this has become a partisan issue, not a humanity issue. And the only way that the right will see that this actually isn't a partisan issue is when its too late.

I drive by this area every day and never noticed this..thx Vox!

I live in Jersey, go to rutgers, and take transit every day. I went to high school in Hoboken, and everytime it rained there was always flooding. This video touched a lot of bases with me and expressed what some new Jersey residents go through.

New Jersey, the most industrialized state in the most industrialized nation.

It's called the Hackensack Meadowland not the New Jersey Meadowlands. I should know, I live in one of the towns that make up the Meadowland and I have see the waterlevels rise over the last few decades

Why does New Jersey exist... ...just for it to suffer?

We're fine. This is fine.

There's a bright side though. All the luxury ocean-front property gets washed away first.

Next thing we know, New Jersey will be a natural waterpark

Live in hudson county basically in the meadowlands and when it rains heavily my basement floods about 2 feet. My whole neighborhood has been having the same issue when 20 years ago, it never happened. I also live below sea level at the bottom of a hill with a river very near by.

Muh Trump!

Chris Christie’s weight is sagging the state down...

does anyone know what music is used here?

We should just dig a hole in de ocean so the water level lowers again. It just has to be a really, really big hole. Or, we dig a really big pool in countries like russia or some other county with enough space and pump a lot of water there. Or, we take the water and shoot it out in space. Or, we build a really big fridge and freeze the glaciers again. And then we pump a lot of water there so the water level lowers. Or, and this might be the best option, we build some kind of device with a really shiny red button. And when you press it 1000 liters of water just disapear. And then we build a robot that presses the button every 1 second, and the whole problem is SOLVED!!!

I've been living in my home state of New Jersey for all my life and this video is really powerful, because it doesn't effect all of New Jersey, but rather the coastal regions and the meadowlands. You see, New Jersey's economy is helped to really important industries, tourism and manufacturing, both of which can really be effected by high tides and rising sea levels. Water can easily flood places like Atlantic City, Cape May, Long Beach Island, and some hotspots for vacationers across the country. What can also be effected is our manufacturing economy. I like how Vox points out how we have to service and cope with New York City, where at the start of the Industrial Revolution, started building factories and power plants to help service the city, considering its close vicinity and low costs. In fact, Paterson, New Jersey, was chosen by Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton as the starting place of the Industrial Revolution, starting by the great Paterson Falls, the second highest waterfall in North America. However, while the state's manufacturing economy has withered away since the rise of labor unions and higher costs around the country for blue collar workers, New Jersey manufacturing has shrunk into two main areas, each for their respective cities. A strip of factories along the Delaware River servicing Philadelphia, and the manufacturing plants that service New York City which is in the Meadowlands area. What I'm trying to say is the threat of climate and change and rising sea levels can be such a hard blow to our state's economy, with at least thousands of jobs being abandoned in addition to as mentioned in the video, many homes and towns being abandoned as well. The meadowlands is in addition to being a manufacturing hub, a transportation hub, one that I have lived just minutes away from my entire life. New Jersey Transit, Garden State Parkway, New Jersey Turnpike, I-95, and Newark Liberty International Airport are all located in the Meadowlands area, because of all of its open space and close vicinity to New York City. Also by the meadowlands is both of New Jersey's largest cities, Newark and Jersey City. Both cities linger close to 300,000 population mark, as they are both up and coming in alternative energies, insurance, medicine, and other economies. The rise in sea level can both effect these cities that serve New Jersey a lot, especially Newark, in which the downtown area is situated on the Passaic River, which is what separates the city of Newark from Harrison and Kearny, which is in the meadowlands. Same thing with Jersey City, where its downtown is on the Hudson River, but many of its homes and middle to lower class housing is next to the meadowlands, sparking a potential major evacuation. In the end, something needs to be done about this in New Jersey.

Global warming. Next question.

That sounds fine, NJTransit is garbage already.

I live on the Jersey Shore by wetlands and do waterproofing for a living. The state is doing a lot of work pouring tons of sand, building thick steel & concrete sea walls all up and down my town for 2-3 yrs they've haven't stopped working. And yes in high risk areas it's lots of work but most who live inland can get away with simple water management systems which is most of the population.

skeet to the yeet

The New Jersey waterfront in Edgewater, Kearney, Harrison and probably Newark, cities along the Passaic and Hackensack river (tidal waters) are about 2 meters above sea level. These are major metropolitan centers and a huge amount of property, infrastructure and population areas. We are working hard, and have been for the last 40 years, to destroy the Wetlands between Hackensack and Rutherford.

DINKLEBERG!!!!

There are easy solutions to infrastructure, although mother nature will always win over land and sea. Respect earth, respect people, and don't fight back nature just flow with it. 🦈🐡🌊🌊

*Aw shucks.*

This is scary, I live right on the NJ side of the Hudson. Even just regular storms can cause bad flooding.

70% of all people live in a circle in Central Southern East of Asia

For a minute I thought this was about MY state. Nope,I forgot I live in south jersey which doesn’t exist to half of the people in the world

4:54 I was hoping I would finally learn how to pronounce Moonachie but you didn't say it.

Well, better buy a Karin technical aqua cuz new jersey is becoming new venice

Our government told us there's no global warming is fine

Brah just let meadowlands sink. Nasty ass looking place lmao

The Earth is flat, so why can’t all are governments all push some of the water off the sides?

I work as a stormwater engineer and Vox did a great job explaining this issue.

america - oh no we're flooding. the netherlands - BEGONE -PSYCH- water!

One thing I always hate about “disasters” in news is that they make reports of flooding and destruction seem like it’s a surprise, shock, or unforeseen freak occurrence. The Truth of the matter is, a disaster is always related to destruction, and nature acts (and destroys) in predictable ways. So, the conclusion has to be: Natural disasters are always the result of humanity failing to see what nature does And then build accordingly. If you build structures that are either 1) not in a disaster prone area, 2) elevated out-of a flood prone area, or 3) built to withstand any natural disaster without extra elevation, then it wouldn’t be a disaster now would it! We need to dispose of this idea that buildings (homes included) are disposable. We need to build strong in a way that lasts and consider the design, or “fashion,” of a structure second. Function should Always trump Form. If we understood nature and built everything to withstand whatever nature throws at it, then all the destructive things that we get scared about now would effectively become tourist attractions! Think about a future glass-top room in a building called the “tornado experience” or an observation platform above a river’s raging torrent at its peak, or an extremely fire resistant (effectively fireproof) building built in an area prone to fires, or a building in San Francisco, California called the San Fran Shaker. These silly ideas are unlikely, but you get the idea. If we build structures “properly” then what would be the big deal? There wouldn’t be! ...except for the entertainment value. Back on a serious note, if we used materials that are water and mold-safe instead of drywall, guarded electrical systems properly, and had seals on sewer systems, then buildings that would be flooded would be perfectly fine! Just rinse it off with a hose, mop it up, and get back to business. If we elevated flood-sensitive buildings and materials above the flood plain, they would be unaffected also. Think about Venice, Italy on this one, because the whole city is famous for being on stilts (except the port and train station.) Tornadoes and hurricanes are only really destructive to structures that are built improperly for the air pressure variations and wind speeds that those storms subject them to. Hotels, office buildings, hospitals, bridges, etc. escape those and stay standing (apart from broken windows) because they are designed to handle it. All structures should have that standard. Expensive? Short-term yes, but long-term definitely not.

atleast i live it atlantic county Not in the meadowland of ghetto

Intersting account, great research dude

0:50 ay drop that runescape vibe on me!

Eh they'll be fine just look at the Netherlands

*Jakarta people laugh*

Is that runescape music about 50 seconds in!?!?!?!?!

No kids less problems

that's what you get for warming the earth with that sweet CO2

Me (who lives in nj): ummmmmmm

As long as we grow up to treat the earth as our home and stop destroying it we might save our grandchildren from growing up in a destroyed world. If enough people fight for the end of fossil fuels, coal, gas and oil we can save the future of this fragile blue planet. Btw, Hope to see you all on Mars

Another reason for believing that new jersey is a unlivable wasteland

This was my entire disaster management class in 7 minutes, and was way better.

I live in New Jersey and the meadowlands is one of the biggest entertainment centers in the state, making millions of dollars a year for the state. If there is one thing I know about us is we dont like the idea of changing or retreating. The biggest example of this is after Sandy. Most people just rebuilt the same way or put there houses on stilts instead of moving out of the areas that were proven to be dangerous. If I have to make one prediction for the state it would be keeping everything the same even though this data is out there.

THIS is why I don’t eat cereal.

One more con for The Cities around Coasts. MORE HURRICANES :-D!

The world is like the Titanic; when we finally understand the danger, it will be too late... Unless we do something NOW

Maybe if they stop putting chemicals in the water...

The New Jersey Meadowlands is used as a prime example of what is coming. However, at 0:47 it is stated that the Meadowlands are sinking. Yes, some lands do sink especially if the ground is weak and a huge amount of building is done. So...why use the Meadowlands as an example when sinking is the problem and not sea level rise? Meadowlands is used as an example because there is no good example which would point to sea level rise as a major problem.

Another great well thought of video from Vox keep up the hard work 👍🏼👍🏼

Is that runescape music in the beginning when they mention New Jersey Meadowlands?

Good thing i live in Euclid, im safe here, nothing happens here. Not earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, tornadoes, or drought.

1:17 that section of the road is going to fall into the river within a few years.

does anyone no the song name who starts at 0:50..? credits arent very helpful. thanks

Step 1: Deny climate change and its consequences. Step 2: Fail to invest in your infrastructure to the point it receives a grade of D. Step 3: Floodings.

If this is a "concern" for you, then prepared to be terrified. There are COUNTRIES that are within or below sea level. COUNTRIES. And its citizens? Their lives are not just disrupted. The flooding and even simple high tides are PART of their everyday lives. In New Jersey, you scream "devastation" when you imagine train systems being disrupted by floods. Have you imagined living your life where you have to collect seashells by the shore during low tides EVERY morning to build a makeshift seawall? That you have to finish said seawall BEFORE NOON because the high tides rise around that time and no matter how high you build your seashell wall, it will just get eroded by the sea that same day? That's the case in point for Pacific Island Nations. They have to wait for mercy from the developed countries to address climate change and everyday it is not addressed, they are in danger of death. EVERYDAY. And we are still not including typhoons here. These are scenarios for HIGH TIDES only. The struggles of Pacific Islanders are real. In New Jersey, you can still put off these problems. The floods, after all, are not at your doorstep everyday. How can you work if half your day is spent building a life saving seashell wall that also crumbles that same night? How do you buy food? wash clothes? These Islanders do not have other place to stay. Their WHOLE nation is an island surrounded by water. Are they considered as Refugees? No. They should be. Because technically, they are in danger. But the international community does not consider that situation as "life threatening".

Just bring in land from other parts said every jersey rat

Apparently nobody's listening. They just built a huge mall and townhomes, exactly where this is being filmed!!!🤷‍♀️

1. Find a person who didn't watch this video 2. Sell the property 3. Go to a high ground 4. Do not vote Trump the next time or even mount Everest wont save you!

Amtrak's busiest trains will paralyze. That will impact everyone from Boston to DC. Time to shift part of that N. Jersey/Meadowlands track west, north and back east around Newark/Jersey City...but how???

I grew up in North Eastern Jersey.. I'm in South Bay cali now.... Would suck seeing it underwater man..

Once again, an incredible, thought-provoking, AMAZING video, Vox! Why isn't it subtitled like most of your other ones are?

I hate it when a video starts with an important sounding but probably bogus statistic like “40 percent of the world’s population lives within 100km of a coast.” First thing that comes to my mind is “is that a lot?” and “what percentage of habitable land is within 100km of a coast?” And, if even only 5% of habitable land is within 100km of a coast then we aren’t that far off of the expected distribution, are we? The quote sounds good but just creates confusion. Does Chicago count? It’s next to a very large lake and I think most would consider it coastal, but it’s like 200m above sea level. What about mountainous countries like Costa Rica? It fits this definition yet few would call it a “costal” country (though Limon might want to worry about rising sea levels). Same is true for Japan, Taiwan, most of the Korean Peninsula, Denmark, Italy... those places have costal cities, they have inland cities, yet the whole country fits under the “100km” statistic. And, what is so special about 100km anyway? Vox, when you use scary sounding but ultimately meaningless pseudo statistics you end up undermining your arguments and opening yourself to attacks.

Yeah. Look at Venice Italy! The city floods MULTIPLE times per DAY. In 5 years from now parts of that city will permanently be underwater. Rising sea levels is a reality.

Whew - Moonachie is my hometown, and my family got massive damage from superstorm Sandy. This is about as real as it gets.