The Maricopa County Department of Health’s annual report on heat deaths, which was released this month, reports a record 339 heat-associated deaths in 2021, and of those, 75% took place outdoors, and 19% of those happened on hiking trails or in desert areas of the county. Read more»

A 20-plus year drought – coupled with decades of fire-suppression policies and relentlessly rising temperatures – are behind much of the change in Arizona's forests, calling into question how forest health can be restored. Read more»

The latest summary of climate data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association predicts Arizona’s climate will continue to warm, leading to rising temperatures, more intense wildfires, and ongoing drought. Read more»

A new report led by scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warns that sea levels are rising, and that will bring profound flood risks to large parts of the Gulf and Atlantic coasts over the next three decades. Read more»

Experts in government, agriculture, water management and the environment stressed during a U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday the danger that droughts fueled by climate change pose in the West, including the Colorado River Basin. Read more»

Scientists painted a grim picture of the changing climate and hydrological conditions in the American West during a virtual forum - while the recent dry patterns are part of a larger more extended trend, it is also impossible to overstate how dry and hot it has been in the last two years. Read more»

Climatologists forecast a 70% chance that La Niña conditions will return for a second year in a row this winter, which could bring some rain for coastal areas of the Northwest and more dry conditions for the Southwest. Read more»

Forecasts for high temperatures and precipitation bode ill for the American West, already in the throes of a prolonged drought and attempting to quell hundreds of large wildfires scattered across nine states. Read more»

Blue skies will smile on the American West for the next several months, according to federal meteorologists — bad news for a region already mired in a multiyear drought. Currently, the entire state of Arizona is experiencing some form of drought. Read more»

State and federal weather officials are predicting a warmer and drier than normal winter for Arizona, which would come on the heels of the driest monsoon ever recorded in the state. Read more»

Strewn across parking lots, in rivers and washing up on beaches, disposable face masks, gloves and other personal protection equipment are turning up everywhere except where they should be – in the landfill. Read more»

Last month was Earth’s warmest January on record, NOAA reports, and that was true in Arizona, where January 2020’s average temperature was 3.2 degrees above the historic average. Read more»

Another cold and wet week is setting up across Arizona, which, unfortunately, will affect the Thanksgiving holiday. The approaching storm looks to be the biggest to take aim at the state so far this winter season, making for messy holiday travel. Read more»

Temperature data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration compiled by Climate Central show summers in Arizona will only get hotter thanks to climate change. Read more» 1

Climate change is likely to produce more dry years and more unpredictable growing seasons for farmers in southern New Mexico, as temperatures increase and the snowpack in northern mountains continues to decline. Read more»