page_title: Sun Belt
section_title: Environment
hierarchical_section_title: Sun Belt / Environment
caption_attribution_description: Crocodylus acutus, American Crocodile, Cocodrilo Americano. Photo taken at La Manzanilla, Jalisco, Mexico
context_page_description: The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the Southeast and Southwest. Another rough definition of the region is the area south of the 36th parallel. Several climates can be found in the region — desert/semi-desert, Mediterranean, humid subtropical, subtropical highland and tropical.
  The Sun Belt has seen substantial population growth since the 1960s from an influx of people seeking a warm and sunny climate, a surge in retiring baby boomers, and growing economic opportunities. The advent of air conditioning created more comfortable summer conditions and allowed more manufacturing and industry to locate in the sunbelt. Since much of the construction in the sun belt is new or recent, housing styles and design are often modern and open. Recreational opportunities in the sun belt are often not tied strictly to one season, and many tourist and resort cities, such as St. Petersburg, Florida, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, New Orleans, support a tourist industry all year.
context_section_description: The environment in the belt is extremely valuable, not only to local and state governments, but to the federal government. Eight of the ten states have extremely high biodiversity (ranging from 3,800 to 6,700 species, not including marine life). The Sun Belt also has the highest number of distinct ecosystems: chaparral, deciduous, desert, grasslands, temperate rainforest, and tropical rainforest.
  Some endangered species live within the belt, including:
  American crocodile
  Black-capped vireo
  California condor
  Florida panther
  Mexican Wolf
  West Indian Manatee
  Whooping Crane
  Red-cockaded woodpecker
  Longleaf Pine
  Red Hills salamander
  Fraser Fir
  Giant Sequoia
caption: American crocodile, a vulnerable species only found in southernmost Florida
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