California nightmare Matthew Simmons/Getty Images

California is becoming a precarious place to live.

Seven of the state’s 10 most destructive fires have occurred in the past decade. From 2011 to 2015, it endured a major drought that forced families in the Central Valley to bathe from buckets and drink water from plastic jugs to avoid contamination. And California’s homeless population has increased so much that it now makes up a quarter of the national total.

These problems are only getting worse.

Rents are climbing throughout the state, and the effects of climate change have become more pronounced, posing fundamental threats to the safety and livelihoods of California residents.

Here’s how the California dream is turning into a nightmare.

California is becoming unlivable, according to science

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