Depending on where you are in California — and who you are — your risk from climate change impacts varies dramatically. There are clear global threats that we all face, but communities across California are facing an onslaught of region-specific hardships caused directly by the climate crisis.
his project focuses on climate change-related risks in several categories: wildfire, flood, and extreme heat. We analyzed risk level data by geographical area and compared it with U.S. Census data for those areas, to analyze and illustrate who is most at risk. This project features data from the First Street Foundation and the Social Vulnerability Index.
The Social Vulnerability Index is created by the Center for Disease Control and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and uses U.S. Census data to calculate the respective social vulnerability for each census tract. According to the CDC and ATSDR, “SVI ranks each tract on 16 social factors, including poverty, lack of vehicle access, and crowded housing, and groups them into four related themes.” Each tract receives a ranking for each of these categories as well as an overall ranking.
This project allows users to look at three maps of California divided up on a Census tract level for each risk category. Users can look at the risk level for each tract, the social vulnerability index percentile score, and the population. Users can click through the map to learn about a certain area, type in the specific area, or zoom quickly to the area with the highest risk for that climate threat.
These maps were created by using climate risk data collected from the First Street Foundation. This data was then converted to run on a scale from zero to 100 according to risk level with zero being no risk and 100 being highest risk. The risk data was then converted again into a percentile range on a scale from one to 99. Areas facing the highest risk fall within the 99th percentile. Any ties between riskiest tract areas were broken using the social vulnerability index scores.
This project is part of a larger reporting project that will dive into the areas facing the highest risk, both on a climate disaster level and a social vulnerability level, and will explore the current climate realities — and future threats — that these communities face.
Increased rates of wildfires due to drought and rising temperatures are affecting millions of people in California. In 2021, over 2.5 million acres burned in California and 3,846 structures were destroyed, according to Cal Fire. Communities across the state are struggling to rebuild after wildfires burn through and escalating rates for wildfire insurance make it even harder for people facing multiple risk factors.
According to the California Natural Resources Agency, “A 55-inch sea level rise could put nearly half a million people at risk of flooding by 2100, and threaten $100 billion in property and infrastructure.” This risk of sea level rise will push communities away from the coast, however, that option is only available for those who can afford to do so. Additionally, increases in extreme weather and flood events due to climate change will contribute to the displacement of community members across California.
People 65 years and older face more risk from extreme heat than those in younger generations. Rising temperatures across the state put this population at increased susceptibility of heat stroke and other health-related complications as climate change progresses. Additionally, a recent study conducted by researchers based out of the University of California, Davis, found that in the Southwestern portion of the United States, low income districts were found to be four to seven degrees Fahrenheit hotter on average than wealthier districts in the same region.