New Jersey leaders draft plan to help residents cope with rising temperatures

CHERRY HILL, N.J. (CBS) — The extreme heat South Jersey is experiencing will become more common due to climate change , according to New Jersey environmental leaders.

That's why the state has developed a draft plan to ensure New Jerseyans can cope with higher temperatures.

The state came out with a first draft of its Extreme Heat Resilience Action Plan , which provides a blueprint for the state to address hotter temperatures.

"It is something where we had a gap, where we really needed to consider how the state agencies were really going to come together and take action to help protect New Jersey's citizens," Nick Angarone, chief resilience officer at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), said. "Figuring out how the state can take action to address those vulnerabilities is really critical to ensuring that our population, our friends, our neighbors, our families are resilient to the increasing heat that we're experiencing from climate change."

The initiatives include establishing more cooling centers and building an online map with a list of cooling centers, free swimming pools and parks with ample shade.

"It was important that we ensure that we're addressing that and we're getting in front of it so it's not catching people by surprise," Nathaly Agosto Filion, NJDEP's deputy chief resilience officer, said.

Kelvin Baker, of Cherry Hill, who spent part of his day working out at Cooper River Park, liked the idea of more cooling centers in the community.

"That'd be cool. I'll need a cooling center right after I finish out here," Baker said. "Go right to the cooling center, so that'd be good."

For more information on New Jersey's Extreme Heat Resilience Action Plan, click here .