Rare and highly destructive wildfires drive human migration in the U.S

Kathryn McConnell (), Elizabeth Fussell, Jack DeWaard, Stephan Whitaker, Katherine J. Curtis, Lise Denis, Jennifer Balch and Kobie Price
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Kathryn McConnell: Brown University
Elizabeth Fussell: Brown University
Jack DeWaard: Population Council
Katherine J. Curtis: University of Wisconsin—Madison
Lise Denis: University of Colorado Boulder
Jennifer Balch: University of Colorado Boulder
Kobie Price: University of Minnesota—Twin Cities

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract The scale of wildfire impacts to the built environment is growing and will likely continue under rising average global temperatures. We investigate whether and at what destruction threshold wildfires have influenced human mobility patterns by examining the migration effects of the most destructive wildfires in the contiguous U.S. between 1999 and 2020. We find that only the most extreme wildfires (258+ structures destroyed) influenced migration patterns. In contrast, the majority of wildfires examined were less destructive and did not cause significant changes to out- or in-migration. These findings suggest that, for the past two decades, the influence of wildfire on population mobility was rare and operated primarily through destruction of the built environment.

Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-50630-4

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50630-4

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