I really don’t like stories like this about Phoenix. They’re never factually incorrect, but I grew up there, and we hit 122 when I was in elementary school. There was usually a full week in June at or above 115, and another in July around 112 just as the humidity was kicking in for the monsoon season. I don’t remember a summer through 1996 without hitting at least 117.
In short, this isn’t unprecedented weather, and it isn’t helpful to use stats like “it has already had 13 consecutive days — with Thursday expected to be the 14th — at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit” when locals don’t even keep track of that because 110 is such an utter nonevent. I will grant that the heat island effects are worsening lows compared with the '80s, but the low happens at 5 a.m.; it has been in the 90s well past midnight for decades.
Numbers without appropriate context can be extremely misleading, which is what you don’t want to be doing when tying things to climate change that existed before the term was coined.
The heat island effect will continue to ravage Phoenix as there’s no end in sight to the urban sprawl. It’s a tragic state of affairs. The lifestyle Americans expect is not sustainable, especially in a desert, yet nobody seems willing to make a change.
