http://i.imgur.com/EnrWs9g.png




Phoenix's extreme heatwave tests the limits of survival

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/14/phoenix-heatwave-summer-extreme-weather-arizona

That they grow water intense irrigated crops like lawn grass and alfalfa in this climate is middle finger to all sanity.

>grass and alfalfa

I was stunned when I first heard that.  We're going to have to change what we grow and where.  I've read the corn belt in the Midwest US is going to have to move North which means farmers in some places are going to need new crops.  Right now farmers are trying to adapt by planting different hybrid seeds that can stand the heat and less ground moisture but I don't know how long that will hold.  I'm sure the big agricultural collages are looking into this but I'm not sure agribusiness is.

I was just in a little town in the high desert in Nevada yesterday and was surprised by how green they kept their grasses.

>>grass and alfalfa

Much of which gets shipped to China because we don't produce anything else to put in all those container ships that come our way full of manufactured goods. Instead of sending them back empty, they can make a little from alfalfa.

It comes down to water for agriculture being priced way below cost in the American West. If priced according to actual costs, then beef would get much more expensive and it might not be worth shipping alfalfa to China.

Phoenix breaks US city records after hitting at least 110F for 19th straight day

'We are damned fools': scientist who sounded climate alarm in 80s warns of worse to come | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/19/climate-crisis-james-hansen-scientist-warning

This just in from Phoenix:

Arizona's sweltering summer could set new record for most heat-associated deaths in big metro

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/arizonas-sweltering-summer-could-set-new-record-for-most-heat-associated-deaths-in-big-metro/articleshow/103891638.cms

I bet there are places where the death rate was higher, but either the record keeping was bad or they are not considered metro areas or both.

I wonder for example how good the records are for ag and construction in California and Dubai.

Arizona Community Hits 110 Degrees, Breaking Record
https://www.newser.com/story/385773/arizona-community-hits-110-degrees-breaking-record.html

This heat done is honestly freaking people out. It has been 30+ degrees warmer than usual here.  I am thankful for being on the relatively mild climate near the coast, but it still reached 94 degrees this week.

The ski area near us has kept daily temperature records going back at least 50 years, but I think back to the 1930s. The ranger who records the temps currently scanned the logbooks and found that the temperature two days ago was the highest ever recorded when the ski area was open.

The temperature went even higher the next day, but due to rapid melting, they closed the ski area for the season.

We had 4 feet on the ground a couple weeks ago at the house. Now we have flowers blooming. I've never seen it melt so fast.

>> melt so fast

So where does it go? Does it cause flooding someplace?

>but it's a dry heat

In 1994, I was in Phoenix when it was 118^f. How high is too high for AZ cities?

AU 2019: Temperature hits 49.9C ^(121.8f) and roads melt in remote SA ahead of catastrophic fire conditions - ABC News

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-20/catastrophic-fire-conditions-forecast-in-sa-as-temperatures-soar/11815346?future=true&pfmredir=sm