Lun. Feb 3rd, 2025

Your support helps us to tell the storySupport NowFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.The United States is no stranger to extreme weather, but the accelerating effects of climate change are pushing some regions closer to the brink of uninhabitability. From oppressive heat in the Southwest to rising sea levels and storm surges along the coasts, the challenges are diverse, daunting, and interconnected.Masada Siegel, a consultant for FEMA and emergency management organizations, knows this reality well. A Phoenix native and mother of a 9-year-old son, Siegel has seen her hometown transform into a hostile environment. Last summer, Phoenix experienced 113 consecutive days over 100°F, the longest streak ever recorded. The average temperature that month was 97°F.“In the summer at 116 degrees, you’re not laying out by the pool,” Siegel says. “You’re either in the pool, indoors, or in the shade. And then at a certain point, the pool is so hot, it feels like you’re in soup.”Phoenix saw just 4.54 inches of rain last year — 2.52 inches below normal — and the lack of precipitation, as well as the increased heat, has thrown seasonal rhythms out of sync: “I have a lemon tree that’s flowering in January. My lime tree is flowering in January. They’re not supposed to flower until springtime.”The changes aren’t just inconvenient; they’re impacting quality of life and mental health. “In Arizona, people get depressed in the summer, just like people in New York get Seasonal Affective Disorder in the winter,” Siegel adds. Many Arizonans now spend most of the summer indoors, and chronic Vitamin D deficiencies are becoming more common — especially in the south of the state — as a result.Mikhail Chester, a climate adaptation and infrastructure expert from Arizona State University, highlights the long-term consequences of these changes. “Will things get worse? Yes, they will. I mean, we’re already seeing that,” he says. One of the simple reasons why things will get worse is because we haven’t immediately solved the climate change problem, and we’re still behaving in the same way we’ve