When the first scientific data published in linked rising temperatures across the world to the burning of fossil fuels and increased atmospheric CO₂ it was met with skepticism. That’s a good thing. We should always be highly critical of and test all scientific theories. Since then, 99.9% of 88,125 climate-related studies from 2012 to 2020 affirm human activity is the primary cause of climate change.
Non-scientists experienced a much different exposure to human caused climate change. Over our lifetime, specifically since the 1990s, the relatively few people living in remote or coastal areas whose lives are controlled by the impact of climate change have been questioned in our observations. The much larger portion of suburban and urban people whose lives are relatively unaffected have been subject to an extensive misinformation campaign organized and paid for by the powerful fossil fuel industry. The bizarre discussion of the underlying cause of climate change dominated much of our public discourse.
In my town, all of the homes and land where my 1990s neighbors lived have been destroyed by storm and flood damage. My home survived only because it is protected by a new half million dollar municipal sea wall. The physical world here is much different than in the 1990s. The water is warmer and higher, the tidal flows are stronger and more damaging, and the brutal impact of wind, heat, and weather that I see on a daily basis is more damaging than in the past. In fact, most of my life’s work is spent developing adaptations to the new physical environment we face now. This work has been financially devastating to me, but a necessary transition to a sustainable future.
Our governments continue to deny and combat these adaptations, clinging to outdated building codes, financial funding procedures, and legal regulations developed prior to these dramatic physical changes. My story is partly covered in the book “The Drowning of Money Island” where, in 2018, the New Jersey Attorney General chose to sue the few remaining devastated residents and local activists recovering from Superstorm Sandy rather than tap the powerful fossil fuel companies responsible for the damage that could have funded our adaptation. I am able to continue my life’s work only by working around, not in tandem with, government programs.
Since then, we have adapted a range of soft-footprint and restorative strategies to adjust to life here. I shifted my business to floating infrastructure and supplemented the living shoreline research of others. Those who can afford it moved to amphibious and electric vehicles capable of handling the new environment and new plastic construction that resists salt water decay and rough seas. Yet there is little sign of cooperation between the various commercial, residential, government and scientific interests in our community. We continue to battle each other rather than work together for a sustainable future.
Tony Novak is the founder of BaySave, a 501(c )(3) nonprofit that focuses on bringing attention to local sustainability at the New Jersey bayshore. He is available for interviews or in-person presentations.