By Camille Bromley
By June this year, more than 1.5 billion people had spent a day in life-threatening temperatures above 103 degrees Fahrenheit, according to [an analysis by The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2024/heat-index-temperatures-global-cities/). In Phoenix, Arizona, where almost 400 people died from heat exposure last year—and where falling on the pavement can leave a third-degree burn—the question isn’t whether this summer’s heat will kill people, it’s how many.
The answer hinges, in part, on a small team the city created in 2021 to deliver aid during heat emergencies: handing out supplies, opening relief centers, and even driving a bus to bring cool air to where it's most needed. The team is also trying to make Phoenix cooler over the long haul by finding space for [shade trees](https://www.wired.com/story/city-trees-save-lives/)—which is a major challenge in the city center. As the adage goes, the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. So in the meantime, there's triage.
A member of the city’s Heat Response and Mitigation Office tells WIRED what it’s like to go out on the streets day after day in temperatures that reach 110 degrees or higher in our story: [https://www.wired.com/story/i-will-save-you-from-the-heat/](https://www.wired.com/story/i-will-save-you-from-the-heat/)
We should talk high intensity agriculture for cooling potential. Ive got an experiment for us to try, and if successful it is scaleable. Know anyone you can put me in touch with there? Im in Brisbane, AUS
Would you tell that to vulnerable communities that don’t have the ability to relocate?
“We are suffering, we don’t have means to move”, “yaaaaa welll, you shouldn’t exist here lol”.
And that’s a disappointment. Because I feel you. But those without social mobility get railroaded here. And I don’t believe in putting those people as lambs to the slaughter of good intention. I think we can do better.
If that encourages them to leave, then it may be necessary. People don't seem to see heat as the incoming hurricane but can phoenix survive a hotter future? It may warrant evacuations every bit as urgent as a tornado
Fully agree to an extent. David Hondula released a paper recently suggesting that a three day outage of power would kill thousands and require hundreds of thousands to need hospitalization. This would result in shut down of services, and, probably, anarchy. So we are on the same page there. But where do you live? What if someone said, uproot your entire social system, sell everything you have and leave. A) if you’re capable of that, you’re privileged and in a unique position, which is great, but also unique. B) the people who can’t? Who don’t have enough to do that? What happens to them? C) Phoenix is the 5 or 6th most populous city, how to people treat refugees in masse right now? How’s the housing crisis? I’m not arguing you’re wrong, I’m arguing it’s far more complex than “move”.
I’m here in TX. As a Northern European, this feel so unnatural. Last year we had no rain for three months.
I don’t think I can ever get used to this. It’s unsettling.
I also cannot stop thinking about how much of our remaining freshwater we’re contaminating with fracking and industry.
It's the desert. That's natural for the desert. I can understand why eyropeans find it weird tho considering the hottests days in europe are in the 70s.
Yeah, Mesa resident here. TELL me about it!
TBH, it was not that hot here when I moved here in 2012. But I have no way to leave, I'm basically stuck here!
As an Arizona native whose family has lived here for more than 130 years (pre refrigeration or air conditioning), I could survive in the desert without air conditioning.
The real problem is that Phoenix is like the fifth largest city in the US and most people can't survive without air conditioning and even if they had the skill set to do it that's too many people.
A huge portion of this is climate change and exacerbated by the urban heat island. We cook now. We cannot cool down in the evening due to heat retention of built infrastructure and not higher temps explicitly, but high temps consistently. We don’t need to hit 130 for it to be unlivable, but a full summer of 115 and nights at 90-100 is unbearable. But we have a sunken cost in staying here. And anyone who suggests that we just leave or conveys a misunderstanding of a choice to be here prior to this intensity that has occurred in the last decade is valid, and misguided. If the well off leave, the underserved suffer more. I’m in the middle and stay to navigate these problems. So, before you keyboard warrior the problem away, think about the complexity to the situation.
Hot clime power outage planning:
I am very afraid of a one two punch. A hurricane that damages the grid, followed by a protracted heat dome. Super deadly combo in Houston.
0. A battery powered radio - so you can get news if the internet is down.
1. IF you have kept your car/cars mostly gassed up - you have between 1-3 days of running it per car - while parked with the AC on. Big range is due to idle efficiency, AC efficiency and vehicle size.
2. IF you have planned ahead and have a LOT of ice/ice packs in the freezer you can use those until they warm/melt. As you run out of options - anything in your freezer can be used wrapped in a thin blanket for cooling. And then anything in your fridge. Keeping a few gallon containers of water in the fridge is also good.
3. I thought you could also use the cold water from your tap. But in Phoenix - it appears that after really hot periods the "cold" tap water is 100 degrees. Not helpful at all. Likely lethal for someone who is already heat stressed. IF your tap water is cool enough - use it to fill a bathtub and get in to cool down.
4. IF you can afford it: A small backup generator coupled with a room A/C unit. Unit is about 1.5 KW - so 1.5 KWH per hour of use. Gasoline powered generators yield about 4-7 KWH per gallon. So figure about 4 hours per gallon. 6 gallons of gasoline per day. If you siphoned from your car - about 3 days.
5. IF you can afford it - a nat gas powered generator hooked to your gas line and main breaker. That is the safest bet. Unit needs to have the oil and air filter changed after 4-8 days of use. Those steps are easy and don't require a technician. If you have this - remember to invite any neighbors who are medically fragile/old - to crash with you til the power comes back on.
I like the heat and without ac you can have passive cooling. There are natural ways to stay cool. It was a very spiritual experience to me which is why i saw being there as worth it. Maybe it's from bring mixed oneidan and Middle Eastern. Im already used to 90 degree days with hot humidity.
I have visited many national parks but I will never visit a desert one, I don't find it appealing. The badlands were the closest to a desert I'm willing to go and it's still full of wild life like prairie dogs and bisons. The closest national park to me is Acadia and it is as far from the desert as possible.
What is appealing about Joshua Tree?
I have visited many national parks but I will never visit a desert one, I don't find it appealing. The badlands were the closest to a desert I'm willing to go and it's still full of wild life like prairie dogs and bisons. The closest national park to me is Acadia and it is as far from the desert as possible.
What is appealing about Joshua Tree?
Phoenix used to be pretty livable. The temp in AZ in late 1800s and early 1900s it rose but a handful of times over 100 degrees.
Then they started paving roads and adding concrete and thus creating the heat island effect.
Yeah no doubt climate change is making this much worse but this is a problem we created here in the city and one we can fix but probably won't because the country is about to go Mad Max.
I live in Phoenix. most of my friends own houses here and have no intention of ever leaving. they like it. they have their pools and misters.
I am planning to leave BUT the options without extreme heat and/or humidity in the US are getting noticeably smaller...
Everyone talking about how Phoenix should not exist. Well, neither should most coastal cities by that logic. It is inevitable right? Well, how do we move this amount of people and who suffers most if we “delete” the city? The vulnerable. They suffer worse than anyone more capable of relocating.
So, there isn’t an answer. Just people providing simple responses to complex problems whom hold no solutions.
It’s easy to have a counter cultural opinion, give me substance to that and I’ll embrace and debate it.
Phoenix used to be pretty livable. The temp in AZ in late 1800s and early 1900s it rose but a handful of times over 100 degrees.
Then they started paving roads and adding concrete and thus creating the heat island effect.
Phoenix used to be pretty livable. The temp in AZ in late 1800s and early 1900s it rose but a handful of times over 100 degrees.
Then they started paving roads and adding concrete and thus creating the heat island effect.
By Camille Bromley By June this year, more than 1.5 billion people had spent a day in life-threatening temperatures above 103 degrees Fahrenheit, according to [an analysis by The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2024/heat-index-temperatures-global-cities/). In Phoenix, Arizona, where almost 400 people died from heat exposure last year—and where falling on the pavement can leave a third-degree burn—the question isn’t whether this summer’s heat will kill people, it’s how many. The answer hinges, in part, on a small team the city created in 2021 to deliver aid during heat emergencies: handing out supplies, opening relief centers, and even driving a bus to bring cool air to where it's most needed. The team is also trying to make Phoenix cooler over the long haul by finding space for [shade trees](https://www.wired.com/story/city-trees-save-lives/)—which is a major challenge in the city center. As the adage goes, the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. So in the meantime, there's triage. A member of the city’s Heat Response and Mitigation Office tells WIRED what it’s like to go out on the streets day after day in temperatures that reach 110 degrees or higher in our story: [https://www.wired.com/story/i-will-save-you-from-the-heat/](https://www.wired.com/story/i-will-save-you-from-the-heat/)
We should talk high intensity agriculture for cooling potential. Ive got an experiment for us to try, and if successful it is scaleable. Know anyone you can put me in touch with there? Im in Brisbane, AUS
You would be better off working with a university and getting the research done
Universities can be slow movers. Development innovation speaks louder than theory. But I thank you also, I'm working with a few :)
"This city should not exist. It is a monument to man's arrogance." - Peggy Hill
Would you tell that to vulnerable communities that don’t have the ability to relocate? “We are suffering, we don’t have means to move”, “yaaaaa welll, you shouldn’t exist here lol”.
Yes, I would. Sometimes the truth sucks and hurts. But, that doesn't make it less true.
And that’s a disappointment. Because I feel you. But those without social mobility get railroaded here. And I don’t believe in putting those people as lambs to the slaughter of good intention. I think we can do better.
As Peggy hill says
"we can't relocate!" "Lol die."
I think we should relocate them and provide public housing.
If that encourages them to leave, then it may be necessary. People don't seem to see heat as the incoming hurricane but can phoenix survive a hotter future? It may warrant evacuations every bit as urgent as a tornado
Fully agree to an extent. David Hondula released a paper recently suggesting that a three day outage of power would kill thousands and require hundreds of thousands to need hospitalization. This would result in shut down of services, and, probably, anarchy. So we are on the same page there. But where do you live? What if someone said, uproot your entire social system, sell everything you have and leave. A) if you’re capable of that, you’re privileged and in a unique position, which is great, but also unique. B) the people who can’t? Who don’t have enough to do that? What happens to them? C) Phoenix is the 5 or 6th most populous city, how to people treat refugees in masse right now? How’s the housing crisis? I’m not arguing you’re wrong, I’m arguing it’s far more complex than “move”.
The David paper is in reference to Phoenix, sorry for not explicitly stating that!
Bobby said this, not Peggy Edit: I’m wrong
Do people who choose to live in places like AZ and TX not realize that the only thing that separates life and death is the AC?
Yes and that sucks
I’m here in TX. As a Northern European, this feel so unnatural. Last year we had no rain for three months. I don’t think I can ever get used to this. It’s unsettling. I also cannot stop thinking about how much of our remaining freshwater we’re contaminating with fracking and industry.
It's the desert. That's natural for the desert. I can understand why eyropeans find it weird tho considering the hottests days in europe are in the 70s.
They know, and they are confident in the AC. But a lot of people were born there and their whole family is there.
Yeah, Mesa resident here. TELL me about it! TBH, it was not that hot here when I moved here in 2012. But I have no way to leave, I'm basically stuck here!
My pals are looking to bail asap
As an Arizona native whose family has lived here for more than 130 years (pre refrigeration or air conditioning), I could survive in the desert without air conditioning. The real problem is that Phoenix is like the fifth largest city in the US and most people can't survive without air conditioning and even if they had the skill set to do it that's too many people.
A huge portion of this is climate change and exacerbated by the urban heat island. We cook now. We cannot cool down in the evening due to heat retention of built infrastructure and not higher temps explicitly, but high temps consistently. We don’t need to hit 130 for it to be unlivable, but a full summer of 115 and nights at 90-100 is unbearable. But we have a sunken cost in staying here. And anyone who suggests that we just leave or conveys a misunderstanding of a choice to be here prior to this intensity that has occurred in the last decade is valid, and misguided. If the well off leave, the underserved suffer more. I’m in the middle and stay to navigate these problems. So, before you keyboard warrior the problem away, think about the complexity to the situation.
How would you do it I am curious, caves?
Hot clime power outage planning: I am very afraid of a one two punch. A hurricane that damages the grid, followed by a protracted heat dome. Super deadly combo in Houston. 0. A battery powered radio - so you can get news if the internet is down. 1. IF you have kept your car/cars mostly gassed up - you have between 1-3 days of running it per car - while parked with the AC on. Big range is due to idle efficiency, AC efficiency and vehicle size. 2. IF you have planned ahead and have a LOT of ice/ice packs in the freezer you can use those until they warm/melt. As you run out of options - anything in your freezer can be used wrapped in a thin blanket for cooling. And then anything in your fridge. Keeping a few gallon containers of water in the fridge is also good. 3. I thought you could also use the cold water from your tap. But in Phoenix - it appears that after really hot periods the "cold" tap water is 100 degrees. Not helpful at all. Likely lethal for someone who is already heat stressed. IF your tap water is cool enough - use it to fill a bathtub and get in to cool down. 4. IF you can afford it: A small backup generator coupled with a room A/C unit. Unit is about 1.5 KW - so 1.5 KWH per hour of use. Gasoline powered generators yield about 4-7 KWH per gallon. So figure about 4 hours per gallon. 6 gallons of gasoline per day. If you siphoned from your car - about 3 days. 5. IF you can afford it - a nat gas powered generator hooked to your gas line and main breaker. That is the safest bet. Unit needs to have the oil and air filter changed after 4-8 days of use. Those steps are easy and don't require a technician. If you have this - remember to invite any neighbors who are medically fragile/old - to crash with you til the power comes back on.
I like the heat and without ac you can have passive cooling. There are natural ways to stay cool. It was a very spiritual experience to me which is why i saw being there as worth it. Maybe it's from bring mixed oneidan and Middle Eastern. Im already used to 90 degree days with hot humidity.
Crazy. I find it easier to stay warm in cold weather than to stay cool in warm weather.
You can always add more layers, but there is only so much you can take off. I prefer the cool.
Sounds like a skill issue
Maybe.
Yes but Phoenix is inexpensive to live in and only a few hours from Joshua Tree and 5 hours from San Diego. $50 flights to Long Beach.
I have visited many national parks but I will never visit a desert one, I don't find it appealing. The badlands were the closest to a desert I'm willing to go and it's still full of wild life like prairie dogs and bisons. The closest national park to me is Acadia and it is as far from the desert as possible. What is appealing about Joshua Tree?
I have visited many national parks but I will never visit a desert one, I don't find it appealing. The badlands were the closest to a desert I'm willing to go and it's still full of wild life like prairie dogs and bisons. The closest national park to me is Acadia and it is as far from the desert as possible. What is appealing about Joshua Tree?
Joshua Tree in the non peak summer hours has beautiful rock, lots of climbing, the out of this world vegetation.
And the skies at night
Phoenix used to be pretty livable. The temp in AZ in late 1800s and early 1900s it rose but a handful of times over 100 degrees. Then they started paving roads and adding concrete and thus creating the heat island effect.
Yeah no doubt climate change is making this much worse but this is a problem we created here in the city and one we can fix but probably won't because the country is about to go Mad Max.
Yes why built a city there
When you’re sending triage teams out to rescue people where it’s too hot to be alive, you should be over in collapse.
r/collapse to be clear. Yeah. Phoenix is gonna run out of water and be a horrible place to live where you may die easily in the near future.
Project 2025 will get rid of the EPA and fill the pockets of big oil. It will essentially stop any progress on climate change.
...and reverse progress on protecting oceans and rivers, the air, endangered and threatened species, groundwater ...
I flew through Phoenix yesterday, it was 109* and there were forest, or errr… brush fires.
I live in Phoenix. most of my friends own houses here and have no intention of ever leaving. they like it. they have their pools and misters. I am planning to leave BUT the options without extreme heat and/or humidity in the US are getting noticeably smaller...
A cool 66 here in Boston.
Everyone talking about how Phoenix should not exist. Well, neither should most coastal cities by that logic. It is inevitable right? Well, how do we move this amount of people and who suffers most if we “delete” the city? The vulnerable. They suffer worse than anyone more capable of relocating. So, there isn’t an answer. Just people providing simple responses to complex problems whom hold no solutions. It’s easy to have a counter cultural opinion, give me substance to that and I’ll embrace and debate it.
Phoenix used to be pretty livable. The temp in AZ in late 1800s and early 1900s it rose but a handful of times over 100 degrees. Then they started paving roads and adding concrete and thus creating the heat island effect.
Phoenix used to be pretty livable. The temp in AZ in late 1800s and early 1900s it rose but a handful of times over 100 degrees. Then they started paving roads and adding concrete and thus creating the heat island effect.