Yale Climate Connections published a story this week on the likely growth of Atlanta due to migration from coastal areas and more rural parts of the Southeast as sea levels and temperature rise as the climate gets warmer due to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and other factors. Some projections show it could increase from 5.8 million to 9 million by the 2040s even without migration due to climate change, so that could be an underestimate of the growth that may occur. One big question about this growth is how Atlanta will be able to supply water for all of those extra people, since it does not have enough big reservoirs to supply water to all of those people due to its position high up in the watersheds. This is especially true in times of drought, which already occurs naturally and may get worse in the future. In addition, there will be added demands on water from agriculture due to increases in water stress from the higher temperatures, so competition between users will increase. You can read more at https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/04/atlantas-population-could-boom-as-people-flee-sea-level-rise-wildfires-and-hurricanes/.
