When Duane Stilwell moved to Guadalupe, Arizona five years ago, he thought he was there to stay.
He's lived a lot of places in the past 68 years: He grew up in Mexico, worked as a railway switchman in Ohio and in Illinois, and taught school in California and New York. He says he's tired of moving.
But summers are generally trending hotter — and deadly.
Last year, Maricopa County counted 113 days in a row above 100 F. Duane's fig trees stopped producing fruit, and some of the cacti in his yard started dying. One of his neighbors passed due to heat stroke.
Stilwell worries that he might have to move again.
Extreme heat isn't unique to Arizona either. Since 1980, the average number of heat waves in the U.S has doubled and the average length of a heat wave season has increased from 40 days to 70. Future summers will be even hotter, experts say.
So how do you protect yourselves and loved ones from the heat?
NPR's Short Wave podcast spoke to heat experts Kim McMahon from the National Weather Service and Nick Staab, the incident commander for extreme heat response in Arizona's Maricopa County. They say there are a range of options, from the individual to the societal levels:
- If possible, avoid working or playing outside during the hottest part of the day.
- Check the NWS's HeatRisk tool. It's a service that assesses outdoor conditions based on local climatology and CDC data, and that provides a forecast of potential heat-related risks.
- Stay well hydrated and take cold showers. The water will help you keep cool.
- Install dark curtains in your home to block sunlight.
- Public health departments can increase access to cooling centers and respite centers — keeping them open as much as possible — and make sure the community is well informed about those centers and how to get to them. (For an example of this, check out Maricopa County's Heat Relief Network.)
- Climate scientist Justin Mankin suggests embracing "heat days" the same way there are snow days. Plus, consider canceling school, camp or sports events when heat-related risks are particularly high.
- Corporations and nations can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. That's the key driver of these increasingly hot summers.
This episode is part of Nature Quest, a monthly Short Wave segment that answers listener questions about their local environment.
Got a question about changes in your local environment? Send a voice memo to shortwave@npr.org with your name, where you live and your question. We might make it into our next Nature Quest episode!
Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
This episode was produced by Hannah Chinn and Rachel Carlson. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez and fact-checked by Tyler Jones. Jimmy Keeley was the audio engineer.
Copyright 2025 NPR
