How Long Can We Keep Living in Hotboxes Like Phoenix?
Extreme heat is stress-testing our ability to inhabit parts of the Southwest.
This isn’t sustainable.
Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
This summer has been the hottest in recorded human history. It may also be the coolest summer we’ll ever enjoy again. That’s nearly impossible to imagine in places that already are suffering under extreme effects from global warming — places like Phoenix, Arizona.
The broiling desert city has endured 24 consecutive days above 110 degrees Fahrenheit, a record. Sunday morning marked the 14th straight low above 90, also a record. Last Wednesday the low was a miserable 97F, yet another record. An unbudging heat dome over the southern US kept the city in a pressure cooker and delayed the relief of monsoon season by more than a month. The urban heat-island effect of city development compounded the misery.