Los Angeles Times | "More than 200,000 lost their homes in the L.A. County fires. For people already on the streets, the damage ran deeper”
The Los Angeles Times interviewed Dr. Kathryn Leifheit and Dr. Randall Kuhn about their research into climate change and homelessness.
The Los Angeles Times interviewed Dr. Kathryn Leifheit, assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management, and Dr. Randall Kuhn, professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, about their research into climate change and homelessness, including at the national level and during the 2025 Los Angeles County wildfires.
" 'The (2025) wildfires were among the most devastating … urban wildfires in history, and as traumatic as they have been for those who lost their homes, those living on the street suffered as well,' said Randall Kuhn, professor in the UCLA Fielding Department of Community Health Sciences and a co-author of three of the studies.
One of the studies (examined) homelessness trends across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. and found that each home lost to climate-related events per 10,000 people was associated with a 1 percentage point greater increase in homelessness.
'Our findings underscore the reality that homelessness can be seen as a predictable consequence of climate disasters,' Kathryn Leifheit, a UCLA assistant professor and lead author of the national study, said."
