Asian Americans Judge Wildfire & Climate Change Major Threats to Quality of Life

The Asian Garden Mall in Westminster | Photo: Voice of OC

In a 2023 Ciruli Associates survey in Orange County, wildfire was judged the top environmental threat by 51 percent of the public, with climate change third at 42 percent. Drought/water supply was rated second (49%). Asian Americans were especially concerned about wildfire, and along with Hispanic citizens, judged climate change a greater threat than the average. Asian residents concern about wildfire (65%) was above the countywide average (51%) and the Anglo community (46%).

Orange County’s race and ethnic makeup is highly diverse. The fastest growing demographic group is Asian Americans. The next largest minority group is Hispanics followed by Anglos (White alone). Asian Americans were 13 percent of the county population in 2000, 18 percent in the 2010 census and 22 percent now. The Anglo population dropped from 44 percent of the population in 2010 to 38 percent today. The Hispanic count is 34 percent today, up one percent from 2010.

The survey concerning wildfire was conducted for an association of Orange County fire agencies and conservation groups by Ciruli Associates with YouGov America. The survey of 1000 residents was fielded from July 20 to August 27, 2023. The proportions of the race/ethnic community in the survey were White/Anglo 41 percent, Hispanic/Latino 32 percent, and Asian/Pacific Islander 22 percent. The survey had a margin of error of 4.8 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.