By Robert Moore and Katherine Davis-Young

EXCERPT

…Phoenix is already one of the hottest cities in the country, as well as one that is warming the fastest. Six years ago, it received a grant from the nonprofit organization Cities of Service to tackle rooftops on city buildings. Volunteers helped paint white reflective coating on the targeted sites, and the results showed that it reduced air-conditioning costs, energy use and carbon emissions.

Today the coating is standard for any new city project. “When a new roof is constructed on a building, a cool roof goes in,” said Michael Hammett, Phoenix’s chief service officer.

And for the past six months, this time backed by a Mayors Challenge grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies, city officials have gathered data for a first-of-its-kind program to make Phoenix “HeatReady” through education, public communication, infrastructure, housing and emergency services.

They now have a tree-shade master plan that has helped to plant 500 desert-friendly trees in neighborhoods with little shade — and temperature monitors at some sites to determine if the temperature impact can be measured. As an experiment several weeks ago, the city installed misting sprayers at a public bus shelter to see if they would effectively cool people waiting. Increased ridership would be an added bonus.

“We need to move on this. We need to show that we’re moving on this,” Deputy City Manager Karen Peters said. She acknowledges that the climatic trajectory could put the city’s economic future at risk. “We need to be able to communicate to our residents, our businesses, our visitors, ‘You can navigate this comfortably and safely.’ ” …

Read the complete story on Washington Post