Ignoring Risks

Why do people choose to live in areas that pose risks from wildfires, hurricanes, and other threats? The "surprising" answer, according to National Science Foundation-funded researchers, is that they let their emotions get in the way of making rational risk assessments. That actually doesn't seem all that surprising to me.

"It's likely that people who live near heavily wooded areas in California focus on things they love about their location, like environmental beauty or proximity to the ocean, and simultaneously discount the risk of wildfire," says Jacqueline Meszaros, program director for decision, risk and management sciences at NSF.