New study outlines high costs of extreme heat in Phoenix
PHOENIX (AP) — As all Arizonans in the desert southwest know are aware of, extreme heat is expensive.
And that’s the conclusion of a study presented Monday by The Nature Conservancy, which commissioned a look at the costs of rising temperatures in the Phoenix area.
Working with infrastructure consulting firm AECOM, the nonprofit environmental organization known for its nature preserves and efforts to protect biodiversity this time turned its attention to the country’s hottest large metropolitan area.
David Hondula, a climate scientist formerly with Arizona State University who now heads Phoenix’s new heat response and mitigation office, said the report will be useful for cities like his in getting funding for measures to help cool down neighborhoods. He served on the study’s advisory committee.
The Nature Conservancy’s study looked at the costs that can be caused by steadily rising temperatures to human health, labor productivity, electricity and roadways.
Extreme heat already costs people in metro Phoenix $7.3 million every year in emergency room visits and hospitalizations due to heat-related illnesses, according to the study. Maintaining roadways in the metro area costs transportation agencies over $100 million annually as streets and highways buckle, rut and crack from high temperatures.
The study concluded planting enough trees to provide canopy for a quarter of the desert city and covering all of the area’s buildings with “cool roofs” made of materials that don’t absorb heat could help the city save billions of dollars over the next three decades.
It said installing cool roofs on just a third of the structures in the Phoenix metro area could help save as much as $280 million annually in avoidable losses from decreased labor productivity, increased energy needs and heat-related illnesses and deaths.
