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. 2018 Apr 17;126(4):047007. doi: 10.1289/EHP2594

Table 2.

Populations affected by changes in the flow of baseline 1% AEP floods (millions of persons).

NCA region Future flow more than 1.50 times larger than baseline Future flow the same size to 1.50 times larger than baseline Future flow smaller than baseline
Age 0–4 Age 65 All ages Age 0–4 Age 65 All ages Age 0–4 Age 65 All ages
RCP4.5 in 2050
 Northeast 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.43 4.88 25.58 3.76 8.06 40.19
 Southeast 0.00 0.00 0.00 4.03 9.87 44.94 3.48 8.60 38.93
 Midwest 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.14 6.04 33.35 3.46 6.78 36.32
 Northern Great Plains 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.58 1.23 6.28 0.01 0.02 0.13
 Southern Great Plains 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.65 7.74 37.33 0.65 1.48 6.99
 Southwest 0.00 0.00 0.00 6.74 14.46 68.44 0.98 2.16 10.02
 Northwest 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.21 2.69 13.09 0.07 0.14 0.70
 Total 0.00 0.00 0.00 21.79 46.90 229.03 12.40 27.24 133.28
RCP4.5 in 2090
 Northeast 0.00 0.00 0.00 4.58 8.24 45.59 2.63 4.42 26.00
 Southeast 0.00 0.00 0.00 6.64 12.92 67.43 2.51 5.21 25.97
 Midwest 0.00 0.00 0.00 4.44 7.09 43.23 3.19 4.99 31.14
 Northern Great Plains 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.69 1.25 7.01 0.04 0.05 0.35
 Southern Great Plains 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.83 7.02 37.41 1.54 3.06 15.51
 Southwest 0.02 0.12 0.31 8.71 16.07 84.52 0.98 1.84 9.58
 Northwest 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.42 2.69 14.35 0.06 0.10 0.54
 Total 0.02 0.12 0.31 30.30 55.28 299.53 10.94 19.67 109.09
RCP8.5 in 2050
 Northeast 0.00 0.00 0.00 4.85 10.21 51.58 1.34 2.73 14.19
 Southeast 0.00 0.00 0.00 5.38 13.28 60.00 2.14 5.18 23.87
 Midwest 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.86 7.72 40.87 2.74 5.10 28.80
 Northern Great Plains 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.56 1.21 6.11 0.03 0.05 0.29
 Southern Great Plains 0.00 0.00 0.00 4.01 8.56 41.26 0.28 0.65 3.07
 Southwest 0.00 0.00 0.00 7.70 16.56 78.28 0.02 0.05 0.19
 Northwest 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.23 2.74 13.31 0.05 0.09 0.48
 Total 0.00 0.00 0.00 27.61 60.29 291.40 6.59 13.86 70.90
RCP8.5 in 2090
 Northeast 0.00 0.00 0.00 7.04 12.42 70.02 0.16 0.24 1.57
 Southeast 0.00 0.00 0.00 8.68 17.10 88.52 0.46 1.03 4.87
 Midwest 0.00 0.00 0.00 5.68 8.87 55.12 1.94 3.21 19.24
 Northern Great Plains 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.67 1.16 6.71 0.06 0.13 0.66
 Southern Great Plains 0.02 0.03 0.21 4.85 9.07 47.59 0.50 0.97 5.11
 Southwest 5.30 9.14 50.27 4.08 8.21 40.88 0.33 0.68 3.27
 Northwest 0.09 0.15 0.87 1.35 2.59 13.72 0.03 0.05 0.30
 Total 5.41 9.33 51.34 32.36 59.42 322.56 3.49 6.32 35.03

Note: AEP, annual exceedance probability; NCA, National Climate Assessment; RCP, representative concentration pathway. Spatially explicit projections of exposure to changes in flow (magnitude) of inland floods (of 1% AEP frequency) were developed by integrating data from 29 global climate models (GCMs) under RCP8.5 and RCP4.5 in the mid- (2040–2059) and late- (2080–2099) 21st century with county-specific projections of U.S. populations for 2050 and 2090. Corresponding county- and state-level data are depicted in Figure 3 and Table S4, respectively. Populations are based on Integrated Climate and Land Use Scenarios (ICLUS) v2 county-level age group projections for the referenced year (i.e., 2050, 2090) (see Table S6 for corresponding projections holding population at 2010 levels and distribution).