Thread: More people, more concrete and lots more heat in Phoenix

Edited

More people, more concrete and lots more heat in Phoenix
By FAYE BOWERS
Christian Science Monitor

PHOENIX --
Arizona is poised to take another record. It's about as unwelcome as a couple of other firsts - No. 1 in the nation for most illegal immigrants crossing the border, or No. 1 in the nation for identity thefts.

This "one" directly corresponds with another No. 1 - its status as the fastest-growing state in the nation. While news of global warming becomes as common as the wheeze of air conditioners here, Phoenix is fighting a different, if related, problem. In part because of heavy growth - particularly in the Phoenix metro area - heat is being reflected, trapped, and absorbed in concrete, rooftops, and a maze of buildings that blocks wind. At the same time, there's little vegetation to absorb the heat, and high energy usage generates more.

It's called the "urban heat-island effect," and whatever the impact of global warming here, this phenomenon is sending the mercury rising. On Tuesday, Phoenix tied the all-time record of 28 days at 110 degrees or greater in one summer, reached in 1979 and again in 2002. If the temperature rises to 110 degrees one more day this year, Phoenix will set a record.

http://www.sunherald.com/322/story/131301-p2.html

It's miserable here.....everything just sizzles and bakes. One of the reasons we're moving ASAP.