Climate change, which has been pounding on Arizona’s front door for two decades, has finally kicked it down. Heat is shredding Phoenix, Tucson and the rest of the state, disintegrating records, killing the most vulnerable, stoking bonfires of bad publicity, and setting new standards for political incompetence.
The Phoenix metro has faced 24 days and counting of temperatures above 110, hitting 119 on three consecutive days within the streak, a record within the record. Sure, it’s summer and 100-degree days are the norm, but not like this. The heat event combined with ongoing reports on dwindling water supplies due to a 20-year drought is forcing the political class to finally confront the TRUTH.
That is, people can live and thrive in a desert climate, as they’ve done for centuries. But too many people combined with not enough water and relentless heat domes means big trouble.
13,000+ Deaths
This report published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, which has been whispered and worried about in Arizona for at least a decade, trampolined to the top of newsfeeds this week. It predicts a five-day power outage in Phoenix at the height of summer will “….require medical attention for …more than 50% (Phoenix) of the total urban population…” Half of the total urban population will push past two million in a metro area of nearly five million souls.
The research goes on to say “….the estimated rate of heat-related mortality for the Power Off scenario in Phoenix is (approximate total =13,250 deaths)…”
Huh?!! I associate figures like that with erupting volcanoes, massive earthquakes, and tidal waves. No, says the research. Power grid failures are growing in the U.S. and a five-day shutdown is very possible given recent history. The Valley of the Sun would rapidly become the Valley of Death if some terrorist targeted our grid, or it simply broke down due to the massive amount of electrical demand.
WHAT, ME WORRY?
The research along with the eye-popping temps had Phoenix leading national newscasts and blowing up my phone with media alerts for the past week. Took long enough. Summers in Arizona have been steadily getting hotter for quite some time, the result of climate change and the massive urban heat islands created as metro Phoenix and Tucson sprawl into the desert. Still, there was the predictable pushback from Arizona leadership.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego did her part Sunday, putting on her “We have to be innovative, and that is the Phoenix way” hat while spewing PR talking points on CBS’s Face The Nation. Host Margaret Brennan, who usually clamps down on such nonsense, apparently had a brain fart while questioning Gallego on the heat disaster. Brennan somehow allowed Mayor Kate to deflect her question on the power grid with some B.S. about hearing from mayors in Texas interested in learning how to manage an extended heat event.
It was the classic dodge by Arizona’s political class, which is always ready to blab on about low taxes, great winter weather, the Culture Wars, and hosting Super Bowls. When it comes to real stuff - dying from heat stroke and watching the Colorado River dry up is pretty real - they’re mostly useless.
Shame On AZCentral
Some Phoenix newsies also played the “tsk tsk” game. Notable was azcentral.com’s media columnist Bill Goodykoontz who let loose with some mild scolding of national media bordering on chamber-of-commerce pithiness.
“Breaking news: It's hot in Arizona. Just ask the media” was the headline on Bill’s July 21st article. It’s a version of what I heard from viewers in my news director days. As we reported on heat waves, they’d scream into my phone “It’s Arizona you dumb f**k. Of course it’s a 100 degrees!”
Seems like Bill agreed.
“If you live in Arizona, there is a certain amount of bemusement that comes with all this. On the one hand, it’s kind of flattering when everyone pays attention to you,” Bill opined as my phone vibrated with alerts from WaPo, NYT, and the Journal. “On the other hand, it would be nice if it was for something positive. Nobody likes to be reminded of their shortcomings.”
Then, Don’t Write Stupid Stuff
As the Southwest cooked, showing a tone deafness that’s stunning, the Republic published a breathless article on all the fun to be had when the mega VAI resort opens in 2024. Annually, VAI will be fed by 19 million gallons of precious Colorado River Water. It’ll cost $500-$900 a night to stay at the resort. What a cost conscious and socially responsible way to deal with drought and record heat, right?
Wait, it gets better. Azcentral also published this gem, headlined, “Summer in Arizona: 100 fun ways to survive the 100-degree heat in Phoenix.”
Hmmmm. By “survive,” do you mean really stay alive and well? Or, are you so clueless and self-obsessed you need an azcentral listicle to tell you to go to a movie or jump in a pool (a 90+ degree pool by the way)?
Instead, how about we check on our elderly neighbor, who’s so worried about her power bill she won’t turn up the AC? Or, why not give some water to those unhoused people panhandling at the stoplight at Tatum and Shea? Or, why not ring up our political leadership and ask them if they actually do have a plan for a metro area of five million in a climate crisis.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD….
Memo to azcentral and Mayor Gallego. People are dying in this kind of heat, 400+ succumbed last year from heat related illness. Outside workers like first responders, landscapers, airport baggage handlers, roofers, HVAC installers and repair persons, are getting baked every day. My friends and family in Arizona, many of them elderly, are more than a little freaked out by all this. We’ve all did some laughing at Buffalo and Minneapolis and Chicago during the winter. Tables are turned, except no one is giggling. This is bad.
Sure, at some point (October? November? December?) the heat dome will move on. Last winter was really wet, so maybe we’ll get a repeat. But, let’s be smart, not just hopeful. We ought to be preparing for an Arizona that needs mega water conservation not mega resorts, an Arizona that doesn’t allow the Saudis to pump our aquifer dry. If 24 straight days of 110+ is the new norm, we ought to be accelerating all the heat mitigation tools available to keep the state livable.
But, this is Arizona. I’m sure the higher ups will be focused on more important stuff, like making sure the NFL continues to print money at our expense, and re-electing the Mad King. You know, he really did beat Joe Biden in 2020.
Just ask Kari Lake.