Abstract
Climate change-related wildfires have become a global phenomenon. Some parts of the world have been especially affected, including western Canada, Australia, and Europe. However, the most attention in recent years has been focused on the western United States in general and the state of California in particular. This chapter examines the consequences of major wildfires that have occurred in California in the past decade. Three forms of displacement associated with wildfires are described: temporary evacuations, long-term displacement while damaged or destroyed housing is being repaired or rebuilt, and permanent displacement by residents who were unwilling or unable to rebuild their homes and businesses or who preferred to move to areas that were less vulnerable to wildfires. Variations in these forms of displacement are used to make the argument that climate change is a social justice issue as it is usually the poor, the elderly, and the socially disadvantaged who are most impacted by such events. The chapter will also discuss the effect of loss of property, social networks, and other resources on the mental and behavioral health of displaced residents.
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Palinkas, L.A. (2020). The California Wildfires. In: Global Climate Change, Population Displacement, and Public Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41890-8_4
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