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June 24-30
It’s Hot!
July is about to go down as the globe’s hottest month on record, breaking the previous record set in July 2019. Scientists are now reporting record hot oceans, which they warn could lead to a collapse of the Atlantic currents.
New Jersey is not experiencing the extremes that are plaguing many other areas of the country. In Pheonix, Arizona, the temperature breeched 110 degrees for a new record of 19 consecutive days. But it has been hot enough in New Jersey and surrounding areas, for PJM Interconnection, the electricity grid overseer, to announce a two-day maximum generation alert in order to maintain a stable supply of electricity.
A summer of intense wildfires has periodically smothered the Northeast with smoke in the form of an orange haze in the sky. According to Rutgers scientists, air quality pollution in the Garden State reached unprecedented levels in the second week in June.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says, “Climate change, including increased heat, extended drought, and a thirsty atmosphere, has been a key driver in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires.”
The majority of scientists continue to argue that the summer heat waves are the result of human-driven climate change. Not everyone sees the climate crisis in the same way. The environment ministers of the G-20 countries met in India and failed to reach agreement on global emissions.
After predictions of an El Niño driven subdued hurricane season for 2023, at least one major forecasting group, Colorado State University, has revised earlier predictions and is now calling for a more active season due to the extreme warmth of Atlantic ocean waters. Locally, the University of Pennsylvania forecast also calls for an above-average storm season.
In Cape May County, warm ocean temperatures and sunny days seem a recipe for a successful tourist season, but the heat could be a harbinger of worse to come.
Precipitation Problem
In June, First Street Foundation (FSF), a nonprofit research group focused on climate risk assessment, released its 8th National Risk Assessment. The study concludes that more than 17 million properties in the nation face the risk of substantial flooding. That is a number significantly higher than Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) projections.
The study’s focus is on the “precipitation problem.” It claims that NOAA and FEMA are relying on outdated precipitation data, which underpredicts the risk. FSF created a precipitation model to correct for federal agencies’ inaccuracies.
FSF says their model takes into account the four major contributors to flooding: Tidal, rain, storm surge and riverine. The United Nation’s Office of Disaster Risk Reduction cites FSF’s Flood Model as a valuable corrective to projections based on historic rainfall data.
A zip code driven risk factor model is available on the FSF website and can be activated and explored free of charge.
FEMA’s maps leave homeowners inaccurately informed about the risk they face, the report asserts. The full report is available for download.
Homework Crisis?
Turnitin, an internet-based company with a plagiarism detection system, announced the results of use of its product since April. Instructors and teachers have run more than 65 million papers through the detection software with more than 2 million flagged as being at least 80% bot-written.
Some educators fear that this fall may see a surge in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) software by students. The worry is that AI is becoming more and more ubiquitous among students.
Cheating isn’t new. One study showed that before AI, as many as 20,000 individuals in Kenya earned a living writing homework essays full time for contract online essay mills.
A debate is brewing. On one side are those who see AI as a tool students will use to satisfy an assignment without going through a real learning experience. On the other side are those who see the new tools as something to integrate into the classroom.
With the popularity of ChatGPT, we are likely to soon see the impact of AI on education.
Happenings
A debate is evolving in Cape May regarding whether the decorative, illuminating arches that now grace the city’s Promenade should be extended both east and west.
Wildwood has adjusted its juvenile curfew and is moving to alter its open beach hours in another attempt to control juvenile misbehavior.
A hit-and-run driver who killed an 80-year-old pedestrian in Upper Township in December 2022 was sentenced to seven years in state prison.
A retired Superior Court judge appeared in municipal court on a charge of driving while intoxicated and other traffic violations. He entered a plea of not guilty.
As noted in last week’s Wrap, there is a rise in cases of possession and distribution of child pornography. This week, the Cape May County prosecutor called the number of arrests disturbing, saying the uptick in such cases began with the pandemic.
A truck caught fire at Bayshore and Fulling Mill roads. The fire was extinguished with no injuries reported.
Temporary generators have been removed from the Lake Avenue substation where a fire knocked out power across the Wildwoods on a busy July weekend. No definitive cause of the fire has yet been announced.
At a meeting where the newest member of the Avalon Council took the oath of office, the borough’s new mayor used the occasion to summarize major accomplishments of the council in the last ten years.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approved a building electrification mandate. The move is tied to Gov. Phil Murphy’s February executive order that seeks to have 400,000 homes and 20,000 commercial businesses move from fossil fuels for heat and cooling to electric heat pumps by 2030.
The surge in marine mammal strandings slowed appreciably in July, with only one dolphin carcass reported in New Jersey by the Marine Mammal Stranding Center.
Police warn county residents to be alert to attempts to defraud them. Middle Township police have reported 79 attempts at fraud in the first seven months of the year.
More than 100 protesters made their views known during the ‘Hands Across the Beaches‘ event held to show opposition to the offshore wind initiative and Danish wind farm developer Ørsted’s Ocean Wind I project.
Stone Harbor Council debated the wisdom of using volunteers and GPS equipment to do supplementary analysis of sand movement after replenishment.
Cape May has adopted updated historic design standards aimed at bringing the preservation-minded National Landmark City book of standards in line with changes over the last two decades.
Sea Isle City has established a policy for the use of off-duty police officers who are often used for traffic control at construction sites.
Avalon has introduced an ordinance that will mean higher water and sewer rates aimed at covering the charges from the Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority. If adopted, it will be the first increase in rates since 2018.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns of an increase in the number of people infected with what is commonly called tick bite meat allergy. According to a lead researcher, “Alpha-gal syndrome is an important emerging public health problem, with potentially severe health impacts that can last a lifetime for some patients.” The CDC offers advice on preventing tick bites.
Upper Township seeks to get help with zip codes, which mask the town’s identity. The mayor is asking U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd) to intervene.
Stone Harbor Police Chief Thomas Schutta says the state’s island communities are seeing an increase in attempts to steal high-end cars.
An 8-year-old Lower Township boy with genetic abnormalities has developed a strong bond with the EMTs who transport him to the hospital when seizures persist. They are his “angel buddies.”
Spout Off of the Week
Wildwood – Thank goodness for Wildwood enacting a curfew for teens. Sick and tired of people not keeping track of their kids. Maybe they think vacation applies to parenting? If you are here for the summer please monitor your teens. Some real ridiculous behavior going on with zero consequences and parents don’t even realize because they’re having happy hour.
Read more spouts at spoutoff.capemaycountyherald.com.
