I’m looking at a map of surface temperatures
in the Phoenix metro area. So this is in Arizona, in the southwest US
and it shows how hot the ground is in June. And this is a map of child poverty rates. Darker blue means more poverty. So this is heat. And this is poverty. Heat. Poverty. Heat, Poverty. The correlation is pretty obvious. This is where it becomes clear that climate
change and wealth inequality are not really separate issues. And you can probably find examples of that
wherever you go in the world, but for this story, I went... there. "An excessive heat warning is in effect." "Warmer is the new normal in Phoenix." "The city's grappling with an increase in
heat related deaths." "Phoenix, last year, hitting 100 degrees or
higher for more than 144 days." "Climate change is one factor causing rising
temperature. "Urban development is the other." The forecasted high that day was 112 degrees
Fahrenheit. That's 44 degrees Celsius. But in reality, some areas can feel warmer
or cooler than that. So here I am in a neighborhood with some of
the hottest surface temperatures, but when I drove 8 miles north of there, I was in one
of the coolest parts of Phoenix. And it was in the hot neighborhood where I
met up with Eva Olivas. She's a local community advocate and Phoenix
native. It's nice to meet you. OLIVAS: It's nice to meet you. Can you tell me a little bit about this
neighborhood and who lives here? OLIVAS: So the community of Central City South
is located just south of the downtown business district. OLIVAS: The average income level for a family of four
is about $19,000. OLIVAS: The vehicle ownership rate is between 23-28%
of the population. Oh wow. OLIVAS: Yes, very low. So they’re very dependent on public transportation. This zip code has the highest rate of
heat-related illnesses in the city, what makes people here vulnerable to extreme heat? Well, I think it’s a combination of
things. We have the freeway. OLIVAS: We have the railroad tracks on the north. OLIVAS: We have the airport on the east. OLIVAS: So we're like a little pocket. That's a lot of pavement. OLIVAS: A lot of concrete, a lot of industry
here. A lot of our streets, as you can see, don't
have sidewalks. You're having to walk in the street, like
we are. And there's not a lot of shade. If you can look around, you don't see a lot
of trees. This is the Sonoran Desert, so of course the
summers are hot. But it also seems like this entire city was
almost designed to capture heat. The streets are so wide. This isn’t a highway, this is just the Phoenix
grid. And the buildings are so flat and set back
from the sidewalk, so they don’t create much shade at all. And then there’s the parking lots. I read one estimate that there are more than
4 parking spots for every car in Phoenix. The sun just beams into all that pavement. And it doesn't just roast anyone who happens
to walk across it, it’s also transferring heat to the air, day and night. Wow I really … did that poorly. Also, I promise this is not a Chevy ad, I
just borrowed my dad's car. So what do you do to try to mitigate heat
in a city like this? Well, reflective roofs can help a bit. The thermal image shows the surface temperature
of the dark roof is hotter than the white ones. And the city has also tried painting some
roads with a more reflective coating. But if you compare the hottest and coolest
neighborhoods, it’s pretty clear that the big difference between them isn’t the black
or white surfaces. It’s the green ones. Plants are the variable that connects this
map of heat to this map of poverty. And studies have confirmed that the cooling
effect of cool roofs and cool pavements is smaller than the cooling effect of trees. "One of the best ways to beat the urban heat." "The more trees you plant, the more benefits." "It's cleansing for the air." "Reduce carbon footprint." "Lower levels of stress." "Decrease energy costs." "Storm water management." "It's a very important engine of cooling." If you take an area that’s just parking
lots and buildings, and cover at least a quarter of the space with trees, you can lower air
temperatures there by around 8 degrees Fahrenheit or 4.4 degrees Celsius. That’s according to a study from
Arizona State University. For those who are used to humid summers, it
can be hard to understand just how much relief shade provides in a dry heat. You can easily see the temperature difference
on my arms and on the concrete there. So the city of Phoenix has committed funds
to planting more trees. They want all neighborhoods to reach a minimal
level of canopy cover by 2030. And I love the idea of recruiting an army of trees
to protect the vulnerable from extreme heat. But there’s a problem. Outside of parks and along major streets,
the urban forest currently depends not on public resources, but on private ones. What would it take for a street like this
one to become one of those shady tree-lined streets that they have uptown. OLIVAS: Well, any tree that’s planted in this
neighborhood in front of someone’s home, they would have to maintain. OLIVAS: The city does not maintain them
in these residential areas. I see, okay. So there are some utility companies here that
will give you a couple of free trees if you agree to plant them on the west side or south
side of your home, because eventually that can end up saving something like 30% on your
air conditioning bill. But it sounds like that doesn’t really solve
the maintenance issue. OLIVAS: Correct. OLIVAS: Because there’s that tradeoff between shade
or increased water bill. But it’s the cost of maintaining the trees
that is challenging, obviously in a very low income neighborhood like ours. And it’s not a priority for them in their
family, in their home. Are there no programs here that are
actually going to take on the watering cost? OLIVAS: Zero. That is the responsibility of the homeowner
and you have to remember, what did I say? These are mostly renters. I walked with Eva along Buckeye Road where
there’s a big triangular lot, it’s owned by the city, and has been left unplanted. She said that would probably change with the
city’s new tree equity plans. But she also hoped for some more basic things:
like sidewalks, and shade shelters for all the bus stops. It was a reminder that wealth already affects
access to infrastructure, even infrastructure that doesn’t have to be watered and pruned. And that's what will have to change if cities
like Phoenix want to make sure that the heaviest burdens of climate warming don’t fall on those
who are least prepared to withstand them.
The city of Phoenix will pay to plant trees, but not water them.
This is why the wealthier neighbors are cooler, physically, than the poorer ones. And there are no plans to change that.
Wow Phoenix has a lot to do with mitigate extreme heat, yes planting trees helps but also getting rid of unnecessary parking lots and replacing them with some green space 🌳
Thanks OP. I will be sharing this to the neighboring city of Lacey, WA. A city that according to the local paper has gone from 45% canopy coverage in 2004 to 26% as of this year. The council there wants to give separate rules to HOAs so that they don't have to following tree rules the rest of the city is supposed to be enforcing. The mayor of Lacey recently even debated changing zoning from 0-4 housing per acre to 3-6 housing because he "didn't want to change the character of the city." Lacey Washington is essentially endless suburbs for Olympia WA with little to no 'character.' They lack a downtown and mostly road based in it's design. It is depressing to think in liberal western Washington so many folks are so backwards. Lacey in fact doesn't allow a homeless shelter to exist in it's current zoning.
This video does a great job showing the harmful effects of bad urban planning. Lack of walkability, lack of mixed use neighborhoods, mandated single family housing (short homes too), mandated setbacks, wide streets, and lack of urban forest are literally killing people in Phoenix. Phoenix has to be among the worst-planned cities in the world.
Serious question: As a Phoenix native, how do you even make this city better? Where do you even start?
While I don't disagree that trees would help, I feel like the obvious problem was somewhat glossed over with no solution for it discussed - the massive amount of pavement! There are 4x the parking spaces than cars, that's insane!!! Let's stop making asphalt roads so unnecessarily wide. Phoenix could literally tear up half the asphalt on some roads to reduce heat capture. Oh, and while you're at it, maybe use that space and pour some concrete for that old-fashioned thing called walking.
That was genuinely one of the most well-made videos I've seen though, top-notch editing.
Wow, wonderful bus stops with no shade. Residents must love melting there instead of their AC’d cars.
Phoenix just should not exist
How are they going to support all of these trees in a literal desert? It seems like long term water solutions are the more pressing issue