UNCOVER
Hackensack Tomorrow
What is next for the Hackensack Watershed?
Beyond the direct impact that humans will have on the watershed through laws, policies, conservation, and clean up; climate change and sea level rise are also causing changes to the Hackensack River Watershed.
In the northeast US, climate change is bringing higher than average temperatures, increased precipitation, and more frequent and intense storms (source: US EPA). Now that you have learned about the aquatic ecosystems in the watershed, can you imagine how these changes are affecting these systems?
Question: Pick one of the ecosystems you learned about earlier -- how do you think warmer temperatures, more rain, and bigger storms might affect them? Consider what could happen if these changes continue to increase.
Sea Level Rise
With global climate change comes global sea level rise. Warming temperatures across the world can affect the level of the oceans in two ways - first by melting glaciers and ice sheets and second, the volume of the ocean expands as the water warms. If the changes to the climate are not addressed sufficiently, the effect of sea level rise on the living communities in the watershed could be devastating.
Use the Sea Level Rise Viewer (click on the image in this section) to see what would happen to the area around the lower and upper Hackensack river with different levels of sea level rise.
Governments and local communities will need to work together to figure out ways to mitigate or stop the harm that these changes may cause to humans and other living things in the watershed. Helping to sustain a healthy watershed is bigger than cleaning up pollution and conserving the natural environments. A healthy watershed is dependent on our collective efforts to slow or stop climate change as well as to come up with solutions that can support the health of ecosystems through some changes that are already happening.