Monday, April 2, 2007, at 10:30 pm

NJN News environment correspondent Ed Rodgers examines the impact of storm severity and climate change on New Jersey in Drought and Deluge: The New Weather.

Drawn from a three-part NJN News series exploring this topic, the first half of this hour-long program studies how global warming and changing weather patterns will affect New Jersey today and into the future. With the help of an array of environmental experts, Ed Rodgers examines how the loss of Arctic ice shelves hundreds of miles away and the resultant rise in sea levels may have a direct impact on New Jersey, its wildlife and habitat, and even its water supply. The program observes the effect of warmer temperatures in New Jersey and the change in behavior in the state’s wildlife – from greater winter activity in the black bear population to decreased numbers of migrating Monarch butterflies. The recent flooding along the Delaware River will be examined in the program, as will the models New Jersey uses to prepare for severe weather, simultaneous emergency events, and the protection of the state’s infrastructure.

During the second half of the program, a discussion on these issues will be held with Commissioner Lisa Jackson, NJ Department of Environmental Protection; Captain Jerome Hatfield, Executive Officer of the Emergency Management Section of the New Jersey State Police; and Associate Professor Anthony Broccoli, Climatologist at Rutgers University, Cook College.

Funding for this program provided by PSE&G, Wachovia, Verizon, The New Jersey Education Association, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, BP, The NJ Association of REALTORS®, The Proformance Insurance Company.

Cameraman Jim Hamilton and
NJN News Environment Correspondent Ed Rodgers