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Articles on Arizona

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As July temperatures soared to triple digits, hundreds of homeless people lived on the street outside Phoenix’s largest shelter. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Shelters can help homeless people by providing quiet and privacy, not just a bunk and a meal

As US cities struggle to reduce homelessness, two scholars explain how planners can reform shelter design to be more humane and to prioritize mental health and well-being.
Suburban development in Maricopa County, Arizona, with lakes, lush golf courses and water-guzzling lawns. Wild Horizon/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

What Arizona and other drought-ridden states can learn from Israel’s pioneering water strategy

Arizona is considering a multibillion-dollar desalination project to address its urgent water needs. Three water experts call for a go-slow approach and point to Israel as a role model.
Without home cooling, Phoenix’s weeks with temperatures over 110 F in July 2023 became dangerous. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Extreme heat is particularly hard on older adults – an aging population and climate change put ever more people at risk

Health and climate change researchers explain the risks and why older adults, even those in northern states, need to pay attention.
California’s snowpack was more than twice the average in much of the state in early March 2023. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Is the Western drought finally ending? That depends on where you look

Reservoirs and streams are in good shape in California and the Great Basin, but groundwater and ecosystems are another story. And then there’s the Colorado River Basin.
A trooper checks the tire of a truck carrying flammable contents during a random hazmat checkpoint in Colorado. Andy Cross/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Train derailments get more headlines, but truck crashes involving hazardous chemicals are more frequent and deadly in US

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is looking into new rules for trains. Trucks, however, are involved in thousands more hazmat incidents every year in the US.
The fire risk goes beyond rising temperatures and dry conditions. Samuel Corum / AFP via Getty Images

Western wildfires destroyed 246% more homes and buildings over the past decade – fire scientists explain what’s changing

More homes are burning in wildfires in nearly every Western state. The reason? Humans.
Arizona’s cities and towns have been flooded with signage during the heavily contested 2022 elections. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Why campaigns have a love-hate relationship with their signs

Supporters and volunteers love them. But it’s difficult for political scientists to determine whether they even influence the outcome of elections, since no two campaigns or election cycles are alike.
Farmers in some regions are being encouraged to preserve and establish grasslands that can survive drought and protect the soil. AP Photo/Mark Rogers

Grim 2022 drought outlook for Western US offers warnings for the future as climate change brings a hotter, thirstier atmosphere

La Niña is only part of the problem. The long-term driver of increasing drought – even in areas getting more rainfall overall – is the rapidly warming climate.
The white ‘bathtub ring’ around Lake Mead, shown on Jan. 11, 2022, is roughly 160 feet high and reflects falling water levels. George Rose/Getty Images

What is dead pool? A water expert explains

The Colorado River provides water and electricity to 40 million people in the western US, but falling water levels threaten both of those resources.
Lightning during a monsoon storm in southern Arizona, Saguaro National Park. Pete Gregoire, NOAA

Monsoons make deserts bloom in the US Southwest, but climate change is making these summer rainfalls more extreme and erratic

Monsoons are weather patterns that bring thunderstorms and heavy rains to hot, dry areas when warm, moist ocean air moves inland. They’re challenging to forecast, especially in a changing climate.

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