30DayChartChallenge: Correlation between HPI score and wildfire smoke in California

#30DayChartChallenge Day 20: Correlation

I created a scatter plot to show the correlation (-0.37) between a county’s average Healthy Places Index score and number of heavy wild fire smoke days (reported by census tract) between June 2010 and July 2022.

My calculations: 1) average of HPI scores by census tract grouped by county and 2) average days reported as a heavy wildfire smoke day by census tract and over time, grouped by county. Rural county status is denoted by color (rural = purple).

Takeaway: some California counties with lower HPI scores (considered less ‘healthy’ communities by social and environmental indicators) also experienced more heavy wildfire smoke days.

Sources: Healthy Places Index, NOAA Hazard Mapping System Fire and Smoke Product