Grace Hand/Cronkite News Climate change continues to influence Arizona heat, and the state has broken multiple heat records this summer. Polling has shown that Arizona voters are taking climate into consideration for the upcoming presidential election. More heat and wildfires and less rainfall are among the risks of climate change in Arizona, and some voters are looking to the November presidential election for climate action. However, it’s hard to define how Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump plan to take on these challenges. The issue, according to experts, affects Arizonans in many different and complicated ways. “We’re seeing increased heat records basically across the board,” said Vernon Morris, a professor of chemistry and environmental science at Arizona State University. He said other Arizona-specific effects include “decreased rainfall patterns, increased wildfires, which affects all aspects of our lives, from the air we breathe to threats to property to threats to livelihood.” The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change, released a report in 2023 detailing the urgency of the issue. It said that government actions “play a crucial role” in moving toward climate resilient development. “Climate change is a threat to human well-being and planetary health,” the report said. “There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.” Multiple aspects of Arizonans’ well-being are impacted by climate change. house – read local box “It really does affect folks who either have limited access to air conditioning or have older systems for air conditioning. It affects folks who are unhoused, it affects folks who are trying to grow things, whether on a subsistence level or recreational level,” Morris said. “It’s affecting the bottom line, how much you have to spend […]
Click here to view original web page at www.tucsonsentinel.com