UserNameless
Veteran
Southeast is one of the fastest growing regions in the nation "with a rate of population increase nearly 40% larger than the rest of the United States," according to researchers... and they are predicting that rapid urbanization will evolve in that region forming a MEGALOPOLIS that includes, Raleigh, Charlotte, Greenville (SC), Atlanta ... and fringe areas in Mississippi and Virginia on the perimeter of the megapolis that will also experience major growth.
Figure 1. Business-as-usual urbanization scenario for the Southeast US.
The Southeast US region used in this study. (a) EPA Level III ecoregions and initial urban extent.
The 309 sub-regions (CSAs and rural county groups) used to calibrate the SLEUTH model
are outlined in black. Red areas are urban extent as classified by our hybrid NLCD-TIGER
dataset method (see File S1).
(b) Initial urban land cover in 2009. (c) projected urban land cover in 2060.
(d) projected urban land cover in Piedmont ecoregion, showing connected urban landscape.
journals.plos.org/plosone/icle?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0102261#s4
Y'all on board?
@Off Emerald..
You still skeptical?
Oh... @mamba tried to tell y'all about these "corridors" ...
For example our results show the emergence of a new, completely connected megalopolis in the Piedmont region by 2060, extending from Raleigh, NC to Atlanta, GA
In our projections, the urban footprint will greatly increase over the next 50 years (Figure 1). The median projection shows that the amount of land in urban areas increases by 139%, from 90,700 km2 (7.4% of land area) in 2009 to 216,900 km2 (17.8%) in 2060 (Figure 3a). The expansion is not uniform across the region. The largest absolute change is in the Piedmont ecoregion, which includes many of the largest metropolitan centers in the Southeast, such as Atlanta and Charlotte.
Figure 1. Business-as-usual urbanization scenario for the Southeast US.
The Southeast US region used in this study. (a) EPA Level III ecoregions and initial urban extent.
The 309 sub-regions (CSAs and rural county groups) used to calibrate the SLEUTH model
are outlined in black. Red areas are urban extent as classified by our hybrid NLCD-TIGER
dataset method (see File S1).
(b) Initial urban land cover in 2009. (c) projected urban land cover in 2060.
(d) projected urban land cover in Piedmont ecoregion, showing connected urban landscape.
journals.plos.org/plosone/icle?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0102261#s4
Y'all on board?
@Off Emerald..
You still skeptical?
Oh... @mamba tried to tell y'all about these "corridors" ...