Background: Over the last decade, the frequency and severity of wildfires have notably increased as a result of climate change, posing a significant threat to human health. Objective: This review answers the question: “What are the health outcomes associated with wildfires in California?” Methods: PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, Web of Science, EBSCO Host, and JSTOR were searched to identify 407 articles using keywords such as “Health” OR “Health Outcomes” AND “Wildfires” AND “California”. A total of 48 sources were reviewed and thematically analyzed after examining the data for duplicates, full-text articles, and relevancy. Results: Eight negative implications of wildfires on human health are described in the literature: respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular diseases, mental health issues, physical health effects, burns and temperature-related illnesses, infectious diseases, cancer, and mortality. Research and evidence on the impacts of wildfires pertaining to specific vulnerable individuals and the ecosystem are limited. Discussion: By highlighting the adverse health effects associated with wildfires, this review provides a summary of known health outcomes that can inform preventative measures to combat this issue. Subsequently, this will enable the global community to work towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 (good health and wellbeing), SDG 13 (climate action), and SDG 15 (life on land).
wildfires, California, climate change, health
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