Tuesday marked the 19th day the city of Phoenix has been subjected to temperatures of at least 110F (43.3C) – the longest stretch of time spent in such brutal heat – as record-breaking summer weather continues to affect millions in the US and around the world.
The US city, which is the fifth biggest in the country, with a population of about 1.6 million that is only expected to grow in the coming years, often ranks as the hottest or one of the hottest. But pushing into new territory comes with amplified risks to human health, especially for those forced to endure the extreme conditions for longer periods of time. The previous record of 18 days at that temperature threshold was set in the city in 1974.
Phoenix, where dangerous heat can stretch from April to September, will not get a reprieve soon.
“The well-documented record heatwave will continue across the region through this week and likely beyond as an Excessive Heat Warning remains in effect through Friday evening,” the National Weather Service warned in a forecast issued on Tuesday afternoon. The agency has cast each of the coming days this week in the “extreme” category, the highest level that signifies everyone who is exposed is at risk.
The city’s residents are accustomed to hot weather but as temperature highs and lows continue to break records, risks are rising. Along with longer stretches of scorching days, nights are growing hotter, offering limited relief.
Heat-related fatalities have risen sharply over the last two years, culminating with 425 deaths in 2022, and city officials are racing to ensure this devastating trend does not continue. There have been 12 heat-related deaths in the Phoenix area so far in 2023, with 55 other deaths currently under investigation, according to the Maricopa county health department.
Heat, a silent killer, is the most deadly disaster in this region, but its impacts highlight a deep divide. Fifty-six per cent of those who succumbed to the heat last year in Maricopa county were unhoused. Of the people who died indoors, all of them were living in homes and buildings that were not cooled.
The county’s statistics also show that the disparities run along racial lines. Only 6.8% of Maricopa’s population is Black, but 11% of heat-related fatalities were Black people.
The city, seen as a leader in addressing the rising toll of extreme heat, was the first in the country to fund a dedicated heat department in 2021. More than 200 hydration stations distributing bottles of water and cooling centers where potentially thousands of people can rest in air-conditioned spaces have been open in public spaces such as libraries, churches and businesses around the Phoenix area.
But advocates for the most vulnerable have questioned whether more can be done to expand access to cooling centers particularly during the excessively hot nights when the temperatures do not go down with the sun.
Charles Sanders spent last Friday afternoon with his chihuahua mix Babygirl at the air-conditioned Justa Center, which offers daytime services to older homeless people in downtown Phoenix. It is also serving as a hydration station, distributing free bottles of water.
Because of funding and staffing limitations, the center can only stay open until 5.30pm, so Sanders, a 59-year-old who uses a wheelchair, has spent the sweltering nights with his pet in a tattered tent behind the building.
“I’ve been here for four summers now and it’s the worst so far,” said Sanders, a former welder originally from Denver, Colorado, told the Associated Press.
Fueled by the climate crisis, night-time lows are quickly rising. Amplified by the concrete-covered cityscape that cooks during the day and continues to emit heat through the evening hours, the issue is one that city officials say they are working to address.
“There is a certain extent to where your local resources are maxed out,” Cleo Warner, human services planner for the Maricopa association of governments, said. The agency is responsible for organizing and operating the “Heat Relief Network”, comprised of local nonprofits, businesses and agencies that volunteer their facilities as refuges during the warm season. But across the 225 organizations participating, most don’t often have the staff to keep their doors open after normal business hours.
Warner added that she expects the focus of planning and debriefing after this season will center on keeping cooling centers open later, “considering the extreme need we are facing this season”.
