González David J X, Morello-Frosch Rachel, Liu Zehua, Willis Mary D, Feng Yan, McKenzie Lisa M, Steiger Benjamin B, Wang Jiali, Deziel Nicole C, Casey Joan A
Department of Environmental Science, Policy, & Management and School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States of America.
Lead contact.
One Earth. 2024 Jun 21;7(6):1044-1055. doi: 10.1016/j.oneear.2024.05.013.
The western United States is home to most of the nation's oil and gas production and, increasingly, wildfires. We examined historical threats of wildfires for oil and gas wells, the extent to which wildfires are projected to threaten wells as climate change progresses, and exposure of human populations to these wells. From 1984-2019, we found that cumulatively 102,882 wells were located in wildfire burn areas, and 348,853 people were exposed (resided ≤ 1 km). During this period, we observed a five-fold increase in the number of wells in wildfire burn areas and a doubling of the population within 1 km of these wells. These trends are projected to increase by late century, likely threatening human health. Approximately 2.9 million people reside within 1 km of wells in areas with high wildfire risk, and Asian, Black, Hispanic, and Native American people have disproportionately high exposure to wildfire-threatened wells.
美国西部是该国大部分石油和天然气生产的所在地，并且野火也日益增多。我们研究了野火对石油和天然气井的历史威胁、随着气候变化的推进野火预计对油井构成威胁的程度，以及人类人口对这些油井的暴露情况。在1984年至2019年期间，我们发现累计有102,882口油井位于野火燃烧区域，348,853人受到影响（居住在距离油井≤1公里范围内）。在此期间，我们观察到位于野火燃烧区域的油井数量增长了五倍，且距离这些油井1公里范围内的人口数量翻了一番。预计到本世纪末这些趋势还会加剧，可能威胁人类健康。在野火风险高的地区，约有290万人居住在距离油井1公里范围内，亚裔、黑人、西班牙裔和美洲原住民受野火威胁油井的影响尤为严重。
