Phoenix, Arizona is the hottest city in the United States. This place is so hot that it has one of the biggest numbers of heat-related deaths in the world. Just in 2023, 645 people died due to the extreme heat that the city is infamous for. In 2020, the city saw a record of 53 days in which the temperature was over 40 Celsius. With the world getting warmer and as is Phoenix, the officials are looking for ways for stopping the hottest city in the US from melting on itself.
There are a lot of reasons for the extreme heat in the hottest city in the US ranging from natural to human conditions. Any attempts to find a solution for it will start with identifying them.
Firstly, the state of Arizona is basically a desert which makes the location extremely susceptible to heat. Secondly, Phoenix is one of the most quickly urbanizing places in the US as well. More people mean a more dense layout and more buildings. As more buildings appear, the air cannot travel freely and the hot air just gets caged inside the city. Thirdly, nearly every building and house in Phoenix has an air conditioner. While these aircons keep the inside cool, they give the hot air to the outside contributing to the overall heat.
The increasing number of people moving into Phoenix and tall and dense buildings have given way to a phenomenon called the urban heat island. Roughly, this term addresses how urban parts of a city get increasingly hotter than the rural parts.
To combat the extreme heat and its adverse effects on the community, people and officials alike in Phoenix have started to take some measures. These measures have two categories which are short-term and long-term strategies.
Short-term strategies include cooling centers, public warning messages, and better communication relating to the current heat, and laws. Long-term strategies include planting more trees and cooling the pavements. In 2010, the city of Phoenix started to build a tree canopy that would cover a quarter of the city by 2030. While today, this goal does not seem possible, at least in 2030, the city is still trying to increase the amount of its greenery. One thing remains certain: Phoenix has to do something quick and permanently effective before the extreme heat hurts and destroys more.
