What Wildfire Smoke Reveals About How We Respond to Climate Risk

Since my fateful two-block jog, I’ve also been wondering about psychology and human behavior. Most immediately, I wondered, why was I so stupid? I write about these things. I yelled at my dad for not wearing a mask amid the Los Angeles fires. In short, I know better. More generally, what does that say about our broader reluctance to take climate change seriously even though we know better?

Research on how individuals respond to wildfire risk shows perhaps an unsurprising result: people at higher education levels tend to take protective action more seriously than their less educated counterparts. For example, a study published earlier this year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences used cell phone data from the 2018 fire season in California to show just that. And yet, even the educated underestimate at what point the level of air pollution becomes dangerous.  

But I was also intrigued by a smaller study looking at the response to fires published in the Journal of Community Health last year. Researchers found in general that study participants responded to fire-induced smoke pollution with smart interventions, like halting outdoor exercise and closing windows. But, at the same time, participants were constantly evaluating tradeoffs. Will it be too hot, for example, if I close the window?