Living on the Edge

摘要

Development in U.S. coastal areas is surging. Half of the population, approximately 110 million people, lives on the water-rimmed edge, which comprises 17 percent of total U.S. land area. According to projections published by the National Ocean Service, a branch of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in its 50 Years of Population Change Along the Nation's Coasts: 1960-2010, the U.S. coastal population is expected to increase by 60 percent, to 127 million people, by 2010.