Drought and Other Driving Forces behind Population Change in Six Rural Counties in the United States.

Maxwell, Justin T.; SoulÉ, Peter T.

The possible impacts of climatic change on post industrial population patterns in the United States have been largely ignored. In this study, we examined population change in six rural counties of three different regions in the United States. In addition to determining the role of traditional variables known to influence population change, we also examined the potential influence of drought as measured by the Cook et al. (2004) study. We used correlation and regression analysis to determine the driving forces behind population change in each case study county. The traditional variables accounted for the majority of population change. While drought explained a small percentage of the variance in population change, it was significant in three out of the six counties and in each region we examined. Spatially, with the exception of the climatic variables, counties within the same region tended to have similar driving forces for population change.

UNITED States; CLIMATE change; DROUGHTS; DEMOGRAPHIC change; COUNTIES; AGRICULTURE

Southeastern Geographer, 2011, Vol 51, Issue 1, p133

0038-366X

Academic Journal

10.1353/sgo.2011.0011