Any future Phoenix has is underground.
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Rising sea levels flooding the whole area?
Nice cool breezes and everyone can live on house-boats. 
Just thinking, Phoenix is a particularly appropriate name for a desert city, wondering though whether it could ever rise out of the ashes once rising temperatures burn it to a crisp…
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I don’t know about much about mesquite native to AZ or even the US. But i grew up in a very arid region in Venezuela and the native mesquites there were excellent shade trees that required little water. But regardless i hope that something low tech like planting trees (or something similar) can be done.
Here’s a pic of a large Cuji tree (Venezuelan mesquite)
The smaller ones often look like weird bansai trees
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Nice change from when I lived there when it was the Phoenicians who made it unlivable.
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I was genuinely shocked to see that, based on the 2020 census, Phoenix is the FIFTH most populous U.S. city, ahead of Philadelphia. I know the city limits have a lot to do with a city’s population count (other metro areas with a smaller “city” footprint have higher populations), but that’s nuts. A city in the middle of a desert with almost 2 million people in it is just cray-cray.
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Unless Phoenix figures this out, it’s going to end up with thousands of dead trees and a lot of sick people in the middle of a desert.
A lot of dead people out in the desert, given climate change temperature increases. It’s not going to take much more for temperatures to get into the “quickly fatal without artificial cooling” levels.
From what I’ve been reading for years, nothing. The consensus among those who study related issues is that the city is doomed.
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AZ as a state has been wildly popular with retirees and there’s also quite a few younger population that flocks to the more dense cities there. I’ve never understood it, i mean i love the desert (i lived in NV for many years) but AZ seems more unsustainable and deals with much higher temps and sandstorms.
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Well we could make Bill Hicks’ dream come true. (Not giving the quote because it ruins the punchline but it’s the last line on this track)
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I live in the Phoenix metro area. I agree that the state government has politicians on par with Trump / DeSantis / Abbott, etc. The Republican members of our Congressional delegation are among the worst anywhere (Gosar, Biggs). Having said that, we do have two Democrat US senators (including the “bad for a Democrat” Sinema) and more Democrat US Representatives than Republicans.
The governments of the major cities (Phoenix, Tucson) are far more sensible. We just need to see that spread out more across the state.
It’s definitely a state in transition. I guess that I moved here betting that the transition will continue, and to be a part of it.
Phoenix, more than most US cities, definitely will be affected by climate change, and therefore needs to be part of the solution.
I don’t mind the heat, I definitely prefer it to cold and snow. There’s the very hot Summer, but the rest of the year is great. Just need to prevent that summer becoming longer and longer.
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The Phoenix metro area is approaching 5 million.
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I couldn’t live there. I’ll be visiting Phoenix next March for Cleveland Guardians baseball spring training but I’m hoping the weather will be tolerable.
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PHOENIX is a monument to man’s arrogance? wait until you learn about Las Vegas!
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wear sunscreen! day games you will get sunburn, but the temps are nice!
lived in Mesa for too long and love spring training and became a Cubs fan (I lived a short walk from their training facility) and would ditch work to go to the games. you’ll probably be staying in the West Valley, (Peoria/Glendale) where those Cleveland guys train, right? still, you’ll be fine!
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On the one hand, the mythical figure of the Phoenix is a symbol of renewal and rebirth so it could be interpreted as a sign of hope for the future.
On the other hand, I can’t think of a more worrisome sign of rising temperatures than HOLY SHIT did that bird just spontaneously burst into FLAMES??
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Thanks for the recc’y. Added it to my list. Sounds like I shouldn’t read these back-to-back.
I haven’t been able to finish it - the Drumpf years didn’t lighten my mood, then I started reading Slow Apocalypse. It beat me down that extra bit. Same with some non-fiction, Jeremy Scahill’s Dirty Wars. Even more depressing because it’s all true. Ugh…
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Stillsuits?
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If Phoenix doesn’t completely drain or wreck its freshwater aquifer, I suppose it is not completely out of the question to take one page from the Saudi Arabian land development playbook.
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Half a million, but hey, trying hard:
Of course, in just a few more years, the desert will simply come to us, we need not move any cities or populations at all.
https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr285/rmrs_gtr285_001_020.pdf
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It’s definitely not a fun read, but it is a well-written book set in an all too plausible world. I’d follow it up with a nice light chaser of a happy book.
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