Department of Civil Engineering, Boise State University, Boise, ID, USA.
Management of Complex Systems Department, University of California, Merced, CA, USA.
Sci Adv. 2023 Sep 22;9(38):eadh4615. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adh4615. Epub 2023 Sep 20.
Understanding of the vulnerability of populations exposed to wildfires is limited. We used an index from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assess the social vulnerability of populations exposed to wildfire from 2000-2021 in California, Oregon, and Washington, which accounted for 90% of exposures in the western United States. The number of people exposed to fire from 2000-2010 to 2011-2021 increased substantially, with the largest increase, nearly 250%, for people with high social vulnerability. In Oregon and Washington, a higher percentage of exposed people were highly vulnerable (>40%) than in California (~8%). Increased social vulnerability of populations in burned areas was the primary contributor to increased exposure of the highly vulnerable in California, whereas encroachment of wildfires on vulnerable populations was the primary contributor in Oregon and Washington. Our results emphasize the importance of integrating the vulnerability of at-risk populations in wildfire mitigation and adaptation plans.
对暴露于野火人群脆弱性的了解有限。我们使用了美国疾病控制与预防中心的一个指数，来评估 2000-2021 年加利福尼亚州、俄勒冈州和华盛顿州暴露于野火人群的社会脆弱性，这些地区占美国西部暴露人数的 90%。2000-2010 年至 2011-2021 年期间，暴露于火灾的人数大幅增加，其中社会脆弱性高的人群增幅最大，近 250%。在俄勒冈州和华盛顿州，高脆弱性人群（>40%）的暴露比例高于加利福尼亚州（~8%）。在加利福尼亚州，受火灾影响地区人群的社会脆弱性增加是导致高脆弱性人群暴露增加的主要原因，而俄勒冈州和华盛顿州则是野火侵袭脆弱人群导致的。我们的研究结果强调了将处于危险中的人群的脆弱性纳入野火缓解和适应计划的重要性。
