Who is Leaving the Bay Area Due to Years of Wildfire Smoke?

[SFBayBoomer]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Probably a lot of the people who haven't considered leaving, live in parts of the Bay that haven't had fires. What part of the Bay do you live in, OP? A friend of mine who was living in Marin, left last winter with his family, and arrived in Minneapolis just months ahead of the riots. He actually left MN in the middle of the mayhem, and is now in Arizona trying to figure out where he wants to spend the rest of his life.

The people I know, who have always called the Bay Area home, wouldn't have any idea where to go, if they were to relocate. Where would you suggest to move to, that doesn't have fires, isn't at risk of future water shortages, doesn't have earthquakes, hurricanes or tornadoes, and would only be minimally affected by sea level rise? I think I recall an article saying, that climatologists agree, that the Upper Midwest is the one minimal-risk region. Shall we all move there?

Here are climate-change disaster maps for the US. There's an interactive map, that lets you click on a county, to get a list of the different climate-change threats and their risk rating for a given county. Take your pick.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...e-climate.html

The word "earthquake" does not appear in the body of the New York Times article or maps. I suppose they don't consider earthquakes a climate risk, but the earthquake risk is the one I hear mentioned most often, or did up until the proliferation of extreme wildfires.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by SFBayBoomer

The word "earthquake" does not appear in the body of the New York Times article or maps. I suppose they don't consider earthquakes a climate risk, but the earthquake risk is the one I hear mentioned most often, or did up until the proliferation of extreme wildfires.

This is a good point. It may not have been included, because whoever made the map didn't consider quakes to be climate-change related, but they will be. It's predicted, that as the polar ice caps melt, weight around the planet will be redistributed, causing stress to the tectonic plates--a recipe for increased frequency of earthquakes.

[Racer46]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

This is a good point. It may not have been included, because whoever made the map didn't consider quakes to be climate-change related, but they will be. It's predicted, that as the polar ice caps melt, weight around the planet will be redistributed, causing stress to the tectonic plates--a recipe for increased frequency of earthquakes.

Just think of the increased weight with cities, roads, homes, frw's etc being built. They weigh massive amounts.

[Catagonia7]

Did OP move? Just wondering how he likes it in Billington, WA? I am dreading the future wildfire season, living in Chico, near Paradise, CA. Our utility bill has crept up and some who weren’t able to renew their home owners insurance due to being in a fie zone. We rent, so there is only so much air filtration to be done on an old furnace and single pane windows. We are seniors, so my husband and I agree we only so many moves left in us! Anyone else moved out of CA and love their new location? Thanks

[Finper]

Originally Posted by Catagonia7

Did OP move? Just wondering how he likes it in Billington, WA? I am dreading the future wildfire season, living in Chico, near Paradise, CA. Our utility bill has crept up and some who weren’t able to renew their home owners insurance due to being in a fie zone. We rent, so there is only so much air filtration to be done on an old furnace and single pane windows. We are seniors, so my husband and I agree we only so many moves left in us! Anyone else moved out of CA and love their new location? Thanks

I moved to Idaho and love it here. There are a lot of Paradise evacuees living here

[Faithfullizhe]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

This is a good point. It may not have been included, because whoever made the map didn't consider quakes to be climate-change related, but they will be. It's predicted, that as the polar ice caps melt, weight around the planet will be redistributed, causing stress to the tectonic plates--a recipe for increased frequency of earthquakes.

You believe that?

[evening sun]

Originally Posted by Catagonia7

Did OP move? Just wondering how he likes it in Billington, WA? I am dreading the future wildfire season, living in Chico, near Paradise, CA. Our utility bill has crept up and some who weren’t able to renew their home owners insurance due to being in a fie zone. We rent, so there is only so much air filtration to be done on an old furnace and single pane windows. We are seniors, so my husband and I agree we only so many moves left in us! Anyone else moved out of CA and love their new location? Thanks

We are Camp Fire survivors, & I am staying put in Butte County. I'd rather put up with the inconvenience of a few smoky days, than months of snow & ice or hurricanes. Maybe because we're retired & I don't feel like having to readjust to a new state.
Of course things may change, we will see.

[DeanoSF]

The fires last year were worse than ever. In prior fire seasons, we saw a few days where smoke was an issue. Last year it was weeks solid with hazardous AQI and an unforgettable day where the sky was as orange as the Giants' logo.

Remember that the firestorms in August started from a freak dry lightning storm that rolled across the Bay Area in the middle of the night and set off fires spread all across Northern California. That weather event set the foundation for very early-season smoke conditions, that were later prolonged by more typical fire-season conditions from separate fires.

The result was exceptional smoke conditions that lasted for weeks on end.

Now, I don't believe this will be the last time we ever see a fire season like 2020, because I do believe climate change is real and that it is making our fire seasons worse with intense droughts. That said, I don't confuse "climate change" with "weather" and have observed that we are seeing some gradual return to normal weather patterns in the Bay Area, which, in time, should help mitigate the risks of prolonged fire and smoke problems like we've seen for the past several years. In other words, weather is cyclical, even in climate-change influenced extremes.

I hope so, anyway, as I recently bought close to the heart of the problems and fought through the "insurance moratoriums" while the home was in escrow, which tested my resolve. I admit I considered backing out of the purchase once or twice in mid-October.

I'm now glad I didn't.

In the end, my wife and I live here because the benefits outweigh the costs for us. When that no longer is the case, I guess we we'll consider leaving. But as people who recently doubled-down on the Bay Area and put down real roots, we're still invigorated by its professional, personal, and quality-of-life benefits and hope to remain here, contributing to its growth, for many years to come.