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Arizona’s Health Department Adds Chief Heat Officer

Arizona’s Health Department Adds Chief Heat Officer

Following the hottest year on record, complete with a megadrought in Arizona that led to construction restrictions to reserve groundwater around Phoenix, Arizona has added a new chief heat officer to its Department of Health Services. The officer’s role is to help with extreme heat preparedness in the state. Dr. Eugene Livar, a physician who […]

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    Western Wildfires Destroyed 246% More Homes and Buildings Over the Past Decade – Fire Scientists Explain What’s Changing

    Western Wildfires Destroyed 246% More Homes and Buildings Over the Past Decade – Fire Scientists Explain What’s Changing

    It can be tempting to think that the recent wildfire disasters in communities across the West were unlucky, one-off events, but evidence is accumulating that points to a trend.

    In a new study, we found a 246% increase in the number of homes and structures destroyed by wildfires in the contiguous Western U.S. between the past two decades, 1999-2009 and 2010-2020.

    Can the Colorado River Sustain More Population Growth?

    Can the Colorado River Sustain More Population Growth?

    News reports about the Colorado River over the last few months have been intense and depressing. The first ever “cuts” in water deliveries out of the river to Arizona and Nevada took hold last week, with more cuts likely coming to more states. The ongoing 20-year drought, with the likelihood that climate change is the […]

    Arizona to Use People in Prison to Fight Its Wildfires, Pay $1.50 an Hour

    Arizona to Use People in Prison to Fight Its Wildfires, Pay $1.50 an Hour

    As extreme heat, drought, and wildfires spread across the state, Arizona is allocating funding to pay incarcerated people fighting those wildfires $1.50 per hour. Incarcerated people clearing brush, in temperatures that hit 115°F in Phoenix for six days in a row last week, will make $1.00 per hour. The Thirteenth Amendment of the United States […]

    Tucson-Based Programs Help Residents Harvest Rainwater

    Tucson-Based Programs Help Residents Harvest Rainwater

    By Molly Matthews Multedo Not much rain falls in the desert city of Tucson, Arizona. And as the climate warms, it’s getting even drier. So when it does rain, it pays — literally — to make the most of it. Imelda Cortez visits families, bringing materials to test their water. She works with an initiative […]

    Watch Bulldozers Plow Protected Cacti for Trump’s Border Wall

    Watch Bulldozers Plow Protected Cacti for Trump’s Border Wall

    There is an outcry in Arizona after footage captured border wall construction bulldozers plowing over iconic cacti that are protected in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument — a monument created to protect Organ Pipe and Saguaro cacti, as Newsweek reported. The video depicts the bulldozers running roughshod over the national monument and clearing saguaros in […]

    Trump Administration Delays Construction of Border Wall in Arizona Wildlife Preserve

    Trump Administration Delays Construction of Border Wall in Arizona Wildlife Preserve

    The Trump administration is delaying construction on its long-promised border wall that would cut through protected stretches of the Arizona desert. The Department of Homeland Security was scheduled to replace waist-high barriers with taller fencing in a wildlife refuge, national monument and conservation area later this month. However, government attorneys filed a brief this week […]