A packed crowd filled the Edelman Fossil Park & Museum on Thursday, Aug. 6, to hear a paleontologist and two meteorologists explain what 66-million-year-old bones can teach South Jersey about rising seas and hotter summers.
The evening discussion, titled "Why Dinosaurs Matter: Our Changing Climate," brought together Dr. Kenneth Lacovara, the fossil park's founding executive director; Glenn "Hurricane" Schwartz, former NBC10 Philadelphia chief meteorologist turned climate crisis communicator; and South Jersey meteorologist Nick Pittman, known as "Nor'Easter Nick."
Lacovara, a Rowan University paleontology professor who discovered the 65-ton titanosaur Dreadnoughtus, opened by walking the audience through Earth's five mass extinctions. Each one, he said, coincided with a climate crisis in which carbon dioxide levels played a central role.
He noted that while the current rate of species loss is "troubling," the planet remains "very far" from mass-extinction thresholds, where 75% or more of species disappear. Still, he urged action, telling the audience that future generations will remember this era not for its politics but for what happened to the atmosphere.
Shore flooding hits close to home
Pittman, who grew up on the barrier island of Brigantine, said he has watched flooding shift from storm-driven events to sunny-day occurrences. The islands themselves are sinking, he said, even as sea levels climb.
His projection for Brigantine by 2100: likely underwater or facing moderate-to-high flooding, with average high temperatures reaching 95 to 100 degrees. The sea breeze that cools the shore, he said, would be "basically meaningless."
Schwartz, who spent 27 years as NBC10's chief meteorologist before retiring in 2022, said during the discussion that rising CO2 doesn't just warm the planet gradually. It drives extremes in both directions, including record cold snaps and intense rainfall, according to SJ Climate News, which covered the event.
What residents can do
The speakers closed with practical steps. Lacovara recommended "rewilding" a patch of yard by mowing it only once a year, calling it a way to help the environment through less effort, not more.
"You can do good by being lazy," he said. "It's as simple as that, just take a patch of your yard and mow it once a year."
Schwartz said he switched from a gas-powered car to an electric vehicle, calling it faster and more efficient.
The talk took place inside the 44,000-square-foot museum, which itself runs entirely on electric heat pumps with no fossil fuels consumed on site, according to the museum's website. Upcoming programming is listed at efm.org/events.
