“It’s sweltering outside!” My mom said that every day of every summer as she walked into our north Phoenix home. My siblings and I still say it to each other, though with more sarcasm.
My usual response to this was, “Yeah. It’s July. In Phoenix.” It’s no surprise Mom retired to Prescott.
Growing up, temps regularly hit 115, 118 — finally reaching 122 degrees one day in 1990. Sky Harbor International Airport shut down for a few hours since the charts didn’t cover anything above 120 degrees.
Yet, every year, people seem surprised Phoenix gets hot in the summer.
Bloomberg News claims the Valley faces “a Hurricane Katrina of heat.”
CNN warns it will “torment millions,” while The Guardian calls Phoenix “the least sustainable city in the world.”
Needless to say, all blame the sweltering on climate change.
But it’s July. In Phoenix.
Pointing to global warming is convenient since there’s nothing you and I can really do about that, absent the de-industrialization of China and India. Since that isn’t coming anytime soon, we can’t await salvation from the federal government, let alone the United Nations.
But using a more localized perspective, human efforts have heated up the Valley a few degrees. And those can be mitigated.
Growing up on the northern edge of town, the days were just as hot, but nights cooled off considerably. There isn’t much heat retention in the open desert, especially compared to the hundreds of square miles of black pavement and urban sprawl.
The rapid growth of Phoenix created a “heat island.” Replacing virgin desert with concrete, steel and asphalt resulted in a thermal dome extending vertically above the city, leading to much higher nighttime temperatures.
Once the sun sets, city streets release the pent-up heat for hours. It also elevates air pressure over the city, causing the annual monsoon storms to skirt around it.
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After last year’s very mild June, July brought a brutal heat wave with 31 subsequent days of temperatures of 110 degrees or higher, claiming more than 400 lives.
This prompted aggressive actions by local leaders to do what they could.
One simple improvement is the Arizona “lawn” consisting of sandy-colored desert rock and a few desert plants. My Midwestern relatives complain about the lack of grass, but adaptive xeriscaping reduces the use of precious water and returns these little plots of land into cooler desert spaces.
The city also instituted a cool roof program 10 years ago, replacing darker standard roofs with much more reflective colors and materials. So far, only 3.5% of buildings in the area can be considered “cool,” but it’s well worth the upgrade.
A 2021 study by Arizona State University found the process reduces energy use by an average of 17% and keeps roofs as much as 50 degrees cooler.
On a larger scale, replacing blazing-hot asphalt with “cool pavements” reflects more solar energy, enhances water evaporation, and doesn’t retain as much heat.
Following a 2021 pilot program, Phoenix installed 100 miles of cool pavement, and is now reassessing the effects and working on further improvements.
By redoubling our commitment to these promising technologies, the Valley can reduce the heat island effect and help temperatures return to their natural, albeit high, level.
At the same time, they can reduce energy demand, air conditioning costs and health issues, helping both residents and the climate.
Phoenix doesn’t have the luxury to wait for world leaders to “fix” the climate, whatever that might entail. The city’s rapid growth helped create the rising urban temperatures; it’s up to us residents to solve the issue instead of just complaining.
Jon Gabriel, a Mesa resident, is editor-in-chief of Ricochet.com and a contributor to The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. On X, formerly Twitter: @exjon.