As Labor Day marks the waning of summer and communities up and down the Jersey Shore are facing the arrival of peak hurricane season, we bring you “Shrinking Shoreline,” an NJ Spotlight News special edition on the threats to New Jersey’s Atlantic shore.

The effects of Hurricane Erin’s damaging winds, dangerous waves and coastal flooding last month are still being assessed. Even though that storm never made landfall, it served as a reminder to Shore towns of the ocean’s power.

Climate change is fueling more intense tropical storms and sea level rise is making it easier for storm surges to rush farther ashore when a hurricane blows through. Even if a coastal storm doesn’t damage homes, businesses or infrastructure, it can eat huge chunks out of the beaches that anchor the Jersey Shore’s multibillion-dollar tourism industry.

Tens of millions of dollars are spent each year nourishing New Jersey’s beaches but since President Donald Trump has returned to office, federal funding for that work has been shut off.

How are towns along the Jersey Shore dealing first-hand with  the challenges of climate change, tourism and beach protection? And, with new cuts to federal funding putting state authorities in a bind, how can the state protect Jersey Shore towns, tourism dollars and beaches?