Clark also found that Americans are moving away from places prone to transient heatwaves, like the Midwest, but flocking to areas with consistently higher summer temperatures, like the Southwest. In the map above, red is where people have moved away from places with relatively cool summers or toward areas with relatively hot summers, while blue is the opposite.
These changes may be due to a number of overlapping economic and social factors. “People are leaving areas with high unemployment — you’ll find those areas tend to be rural areas with a long history of recessions,” says Clark. “So we have people moving out of areas along the Mississippi River and across the Great Plains and parts of the Midwest and South.” As a result, Americans often migrate away from hurricane risk along the Gulf Coast (save for Florida and Texas) and toward the economically booming Northwest, where wildfire risk is high.
And while it’s true that some of the wealthier Americans may be looking for the beauty of forested areas — especially as the pandemic has allowed more people to work remotely, not tied to a single city. specifically — economic pressure can be to force others there, too. Rising housing prices and the cost of living are pushing people to places where housing is cheaper, especially on the expensive West Coast.
“As temperatures rise—when things get drier, hotter, and housing becomes more expensive—it becomes more expensive,” said Kaitlyn Trudeau, a data analyst at the nonprofit Climate Central. will definitely push people to these rural areas.” learn forest fires but did not participate in the new study. “Some people don’t have a choice.”
The increase in the number of people living in bushfire areas comes at a cost: 2018 Deadly campfire in California alone led to 16.5 billion dollars in damage. And that’s not to mention the cost of fighting fires or preventing them through methods like controlled burns.
There are also hidden costs, like Health effects of wildfire smoke—even if your house doesn’t burn down, you still Inhalation of nasty particles and mushrooms. “I think we’re just beginning to quantify and realize the magnitude of the effects of smoke,” said forest ecologist Volker Radeloff of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. learn urban-wildlife interface but did not participate in the new study. “However, that makes burn control difficult, because even if the flame is controlled, the smoke cannot. It’s a real threat to people, especially if they have asthma or other lung conditions.”
Overall, the new research shows that Americans are literally heading in the wrong direction. “It’s hard to see a population boom in these areas,” Trudeau said. “You can’t help but feel your stomach sag a little bit.”
