In 2024, the max temperature in
\nPhoenix sat at or above 100 degrees for approximately 30% of the year \u2014
\nand that non-stop consecutive heat has environmental advocates and
\ndoctors worried about the years to come as climate change continues to
\nmake the world and Arizona hotter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last year saw Arizona break a number of heat related records<\/a> In fact, a number of the most recent heat-related records all come from more recent years. The top 10 for This year has already had a 17-day run of temperatures exceeding 100 degrees, including seven where highs were above 110.\u00a0<\/p>\n The records have also taken a grim toll.\u00a0<\/p>\n While 2024 was the hottest year on record for the state, there was a slight decline<\/a> Overall temperatures have been rising The urban heat island effect<\/a> That heat island also leads to other A previous analysis<\/a> For example, in 2015, Phoenix \u201cWe are at the epicenter of this A \u2018People\u2019s Hearing\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n On a hot Thursday evening when The event featured a large number of The event, dubbed the \u201cPeople\u2019s While the event focused on the Trump\u2019s head of the EPA has vowed to eliminate regulations<\/a> meant to curtail pollution, fire staffers<\/a> that serve overburdened areas and push EPA scientists to approve new chemicals<\/a>, moves that former and current employees have begun to voice their concerns over<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m actually horrified at the Morris voiced concerns over rollbacks to agencies like the EPA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which scientists have warned<\/a> could harm weather prediction models, leading to further harms and even deaths.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no precedent for what we Glaubke and other scientists who However, how to go about addressing that crisis and helping those directly impacted by it is not as easy to answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018The weight of the sun\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n It takes less than 30 seconds of Sheckter is also the Burn Prevention When the Mirror took the temperatures Those temperatures are already Neuropathy is seen largely in people The Phoenix Police Department has For the family members of people who work in the heat, though, the dangers are known to them and they\u2019re only getting worse.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTry to imagine the weight of the sun For doctors like Sheckter and local For burns, it means getting \u201cThese are ways we\u2019ve been able to But for Tuber, the challenge is a bit more difficult.\u00a0<\/p>\n Vector borne illnesses \u2014 those illnesses that are transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks and fleas \u2014 are seeing a rise due to climate change<\/a>. Illnesses like malaria, Lyme disease Add to Arizona specifically that more heat, less rain and more building also translates to an increase in coccidioidomycosis, also known as Valley Fever<\/a>, and you have what Tuber calls an \u201cenvironmental disaster.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The increase in heat is also not helpful for people\u2019s lungs.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe lungs are exposed, just like This week, the state got its first monsoon storms of the season<\/a> as the majority of the state is still under heat advisories and wildfires<\/a>, made more aggressive by the drier conditions<\/a> created by climate change, rage in the state. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2024, the max temperature in Phoenix sat at or above 100 degrees for approximately 30% of the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":38008,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,30764,5643,30763,1587,30748,2330,1907,285,30751,30746,11621,30745,30767,210,2096,409,425,30765,7250,2222,30747,50,30769,30766,20871,1589,28516,30744,30749,714,30768,30757,17741,30770,30759,30760,30754,30771,30758,30753,30752,30756,30755,30762,67,586,132,5230,30761,68,2969,30750],"class_list":{"0":"post-38007","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ariz","10":"tag-arizona","11":"tag-arizona-news","12":"tag-az","13":"tag-az-mirror","14":"tag-border-patrol","15":"tag-breaking","16":"tag-climate-change","17":"tag-climate-change-pushes-arizona-into-uncharted-territory-with-deadly-heat","18":"tag-enviro","19":"tag-epa","20":"tag-family-life","21":"tag-green-valley","22":"tag-health","23":"tag-heat","24":"tag-immigration","25":"tag-local","26":"tag-marana","27":"tag-mark-kelly","28":"tag-mexico","29":"tag-nation-world","30":"tag-news","31":"tag-nogales","32":"tag-oro-valley","33":"tag-ozone","34":"tag-phoenix","35":"tag-pima-county","36":"tag-politics-government","37":"tag-priya-sundareshan","38":"tag-rural","39":"tag-sahuarita","40":"tag-sentinal","41":"tag-tucson","42":"tag-tucson-citizen","43":"tag-tucson-local-news","44":"tag-tucson-news","45":"tag-tucson-sentinel","46":"tag-tucsoncitizen-com","47":"tag-tucsonsentinal","48":"tag-tucsonsentinel","49":"tag-tuscon","50":"tag-tuscon-sentinel","51":"tag-tusconsentinel","52":"tag-ua","53":"tag-united-states","54":"tag-united-states-of-america","55":"tag-unitedstates","56":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","57":"tag-university-of-arizona","58":"tag-us","59":"tag-usa","60":"tag-yassamin-ansari"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n and Phoenix experienced 113 consecutive days of 100 degrees or hotter,
\nthe longest run ever recorded. The next highest run was set in 1993 and
\nwas 76 days, the third longest run is from 2023 at 66 days. <\/p>\n
\n the most consecutive days with temperatures at or above 110 includes
\n2020, 2021 and 2022. The record was shattered in 2023, when Phoenix
\nexperienced 31 consecutive days of 110 degrees or higher heat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n in the number of heat-related deaths from the record-breaking 2023,
\nwhere 645 people lost their lives in Maricopa County due to the heat.
\nThose 645 deaths in 2023 made up more than half of all heat-related
\ndeaths reported nationally, according to Centers for Disease Control
\ndata.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n across the globe, contributing to what we are seeing in Arizona. The
\nglobal temperature has risen by approximately 2 degrees Fahrenheit<\/a> since 1880, but in Phoenix you can add another 5 degrees to that number due to the urban heat island effect. <\/p>\n
\n is when the temperatures in an urban area increase due to the heat
\nretained by structures and ground coverings, lack of vegetation and
\nother impacts of urbanization.<\/p>\n
\nenvironmental effects, such as more and more days where pollution
\nlingers in the atmosphere.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n of data from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality showed
\nthat Phoenix in recent years has experienced more days where the level
\nof ozone in the air exceeds health and safety standards. <\/p>\n
\nexperienced 33 exceedance days for the whole year. In 2022, the region
\nexperienced 53, a 60% increase.<\/p>\n
\ncrisis in the United States and there is nothing that kills more in
\nregards to global warming or extreme weather than heat,\u201d Dr. Jack Tuber,
\n a Phoenix pulmonologist and member of the Sierra Club said to the
\nMirror.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\ntemperatures outside were a sweltering 103 degrees, local environmental
\nadvocates, students, physicians and more were gathering at South
\nMountain Community College to discuss the impacts of extreme weather.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\ngroups from the Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter to the Union of
\nConcerned Scientists, and even religious leaders who have opened their
\ndoors to vulnerable populations who often find themselves endangered by
\nextreme heat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nHearing\u201d on extreme heat, featured representatives of Democrats Sen.
\nMark Kelly and Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari. State Sen. Priya Sundareshan, a Tucson Democrat and former attorney who focused on
\nclimate issues, also attended.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nstories of those impacted by climate change and extreme weather, it also
\n had another major goal: to implore policy makers to pay attention to
\nthe climate crisis and bring into focus concerns about President Donald
\nTrump\u2019s plans to roll back environmental protections.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nadministration\u2019s planned rollbacks,\u201d Vernon Morris, a climate scientist
\nand Arizona State University professor. (Morris said at the event that
\nhe was speaking on behalf of himself and not the university.) <\/p>\n
\nare experiencing today,\u201d Dr. Ryan Glaubke, a paleoclimatologist and
\nmember of the Union of Concerned Scientists, told the audience. \u201cWe are
\npushing the climate into uncharted territory.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nspoke all agreed that climate change is real, happening and that humans
\nare largely responsible \u2014 observations that have consensus among the scientific community<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nbeing exposed to an object that 130 to 140 degrees to get a second- or
\nthird-degree burn, according to Dr. Clifford Sheckter, a burn surgeon at
\n the Regional Burn Center at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in
\nCalifornia.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nCommittee Chair for the American Burn Association and does health policy
\n research focusing on the prevention and health economics of burn care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n of common objects in Phoenix at midday in late June, temperatures
\nregularly were dangerous. A sidewalk registered 136 degrees, the road
\nwas a blistering 146, a bike rack was 125 degrees, a mailbox clocked in
\nat 136 and sand in a kid\u2019s playground reached 131 degrees. <\/p>\n
\ncausing severe burns on people, particularly among the unhoused, those
\nwith drug and alcohol addiction issues and, as Sheckter pointed out,
\nthose with neuropathy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nwith diabetes and it is a condition where a person loses sensation in
\ntheir hands or feet. Sheckter said they have seen patients who don\u2019t
\nrealize they\u2019ve burned their feet until it is too late.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nalso come under fire for ignoring the danger of extreme heat. In June
\n2024, two officers held a woman down on the hot pavement leading to severe burns<\/a> \u2014 and it wasn\u2019t even the first time officers had caused similar injuries<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n on your skin for 8 to 10 hours,\u201d Jazmin Moreno, with the non-profit
\nenvironmental advocacy organization Agave Community Threads, said to the
\n crowd when speaking about her father who has worked in construction for
\n the past 30 years. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just weather, it is a climate crisis on
\nfull display\u2026 Climate change is real, and denying it won\u2019t make the heat
\n go away.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\npulmonologist Tuber, though, that crisis means an increase in certain
\ntypes of cases and a new need for more education.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\ninformation to parents on how to make sure their kids are safe on
\nplaygrounds, and that those who have neuropathy are paying close
\nattention.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nsave countless lives, through prevention,\u201d Sheckter said, although he
\nadmitted that, \u201cat the end of the day, there is no way you can force
\nsomebody to put their shoes on when they go outside.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n The change in the earth\u2019s climate has allowed for the insects that
\ncarry these diseases to spread farther and wider than ever before,
\nimpacting new populations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nand the West Nile virus have all seen their numbers increase, with
\nclimate change being cited as a major contributing factor<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nskin, to the ambient air temperatures, and if you are breathing drier,
\nless moist air, you are going to be transpiring more humidity out from
\nthe lungs into the environment,\u201d Tuber said, comparing it to like
\nleaving a cut apple out. \u201cThere is a lot of truth to the heat causing
\nmore trouble to the lung than if there was not so much heat.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n