Climate Disasters Fueling Homelessness and Mental Health Problems

Public health experts have long believed that housing lost to climate change could fuel homelessness, and now UCLA researchers have quantified that link. A research team found that, in the U.S., for every home per 10,000 people lost to wildfires and other climate-related disasters, homelessness in the area increased by 1%. 

In a different paper, the researchers, led by Dr. Kathryn Leifheit and Dr. Randall Kuhn, both professors in the university’s Fielding School of Public Health, looked at the impact that wildfires have on people who are already homeless and at the extent of health problems experienced by unhoused people.

They found that an estimated 40% of the homeless population suffered from mental health conditions and 33% from substance abuse issues, most commonly involving stimulants. Post-traumatic stress-disorder and major depression were among the most common mental health conditions, with nearly 60% also afflicted by physical disorders. More than 72,000 people are homeless in Los Angeles County, the largest in the country, according to the 2025 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count.

In addition to the 200,000 or so people whose homes were destroyed, more than three-quarters of those who were already homeless in the same communities reported injuries or other major significant disruption to their lives from the fires. Those included excessive coughing, wheezing, sore throats and difficulty breathing, as well as aggravated preexisting conditions like asthma, due to extended smoke inhalation.

“The 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,” Kuhn, co-author of three of the four studies released this spring, said in a statement.

Stopping evictions and providing housing after wildfires results in better health outcomes. Researchers recommend a moratorium on evictions after disasters, using mobile clinics to treat homeless residents escaping blazes and focusing on housing both before and after disasters. 

“Our findings underscore the reality that homelessness can be seen as a predictable consequence of climate disasters,” said Leifheit, assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management and a lead author of the national study. “Governments should focus on housing stabilization in their disaster response plans.”

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