
Parts of New Jersey and New York with 8 feet of sea-level rise. An almost 8-foot rise is possible by 2100 under a worst-case scenario, according to projections. The light-blue areas show the extent of permanent flooding. The bright green areas are low-lying.
Image: NOAA Sea Level Rise Viewer
One driver of EOAS’s mission is an ethic of planetary stewardship. As New Jersey’s state university and land-grant university, Rutgers has a special responsibility toward our home state, which is currently experiencing rapid climatic and ecological change. Our deep ties within the state, combined with our institutional history of collaboration among Earth system sciences, environmental social sciences, and environmental policy, make the EOAS community well-suited for tracking the regional effects of environmental change, developing an integrated understanding of our changing regional Earth system, and leveraging observations and scientific knowledge to inform the civic stewardship of our corner of the planet. EOAS’s role is as a hub for research, education, public engagement, and policy engagement related to this regional stewardship mission.