New Jersey used 47 years of coastal storm data to uncover a hidden erosion threat; the result revealed damaging storm conditions at Sandy Hook now occur twice as often as they did in 1979

Coastal erosion in New Jersey is changing as Sandy Hook now faces damaging storm conditions twice as often as 1979. Researchers used 47 years of storm records, buried sediment layers, wave data and computer simulations to uncover the hidden pattern. The study found that high water and powerful waves increasingly cross an erosion threshold, even as North Beach continues growing. The finding offers new clues about shoreline change, storm damage and future coastal risks along New Jersey’s vulnerable coast.