What Phoenix can teach the world about tackling heat deaths

Ladd Keith, director of the Heat Resilience Initiative at the University of Arizona, told the BBC that other places could, like Phoenix, appoint a heat officer – someone to oversee initiatives and run communications among government offices.

“It’s incredibly important to make someone responsible for heat because the problem is, if it’s no one’s responsibility, then no one will address it,” he says.

With coordination and communication, facilities like cooling centres can be fashioned in other parts of the US not accustomed to the scorching heat, Marlon says.

But that takes widespread acknowledgement and understanding of how serious heat can be and that it is not temporary, experts say.

Heatwaves have become more frequent, more intense and longer-lasting because of human-induced climate change. The world has already warmed by more than 1.1C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising for some time even if governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.

It is also essential that cities and jurisdictions understand that heat is not only a health issue but an infrastructure and economic issue as well, according to experts.

Roads will continue to buckle and flights will continue to be delayed from extreme heat, Marlon warns.

But most of all, Keith says, it’s imperative people understand this oppressive heat will continue.

“We have to shift away from planning for the historic heat we’ve experienced and start to plan for the heat we’re going to experience in the next five to 10 years,” he says.

“If people think it’s bad now, it’s going to be hotter, and it’s going to be hotter longer. The records are going to be broken, you can almost guarantee, year after year across the world.”