Arizona's extreme heat and drought is impacting the state's iconic Saguaro

Record ID: 1735487

  • Title: Arizona's extreme heat and drought is impacting the state's iconic Saguaro
  • Date: 25th July 2023
  • Summary: PHOENIX, ARIZONA, UNITED STATES (JULY 25, 2023) (Reuters) SUN AND SAGUARO CACTUS HALF DRY VARIOUS OF HALF DRY SAGUARO CACTUS RESEARCH SCIENTIST DR. TANIA HERNÁNDEZ POINTING AT CACTI VARIOUS OF RESEARCH SCIENTIST DR. TANIA HERNÁNDEZ WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. TANIA HERNÁNDEZ, RESEARCH SCIENTIST AT DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN, SAYING: "We are kind of concerned in the garden and many people, many friends of the garden are concerned because we have seen Saguaros in particular, but this can happen to any other type of cacti as well. We have seen them suffering the effects of extreme heat and drought and some people report that Saguaros are falling, Saguaros are losing their arms, the shape is changing, they are leaning. And we still don't know if this is related to extreme heat and drought due to climate change, but do we suspect that is the case." VARIOUS OF CACTI SIGN THAT READS “DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN CLOSED DUE TO EXTREME WEATHER” (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. TANIA HERNÁNDEZ, RESEARCH SCIENTIST AT DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN, SAYING: "The heat is affecting everybody, right, and we are seeing that everywhere and in plants, not only in urban areas, but also in the wild. We see that populations of agave or cacti - that is the one we study here - are suffering, particularly for the lack of water." SUN AND CACTUS WITH DRY PATCHES DRY BOTTOM HALF OF CACTUS SIGN WITH ALERT ABOUT THE HEAT AND SAFETY TIPS (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. TANIA HERNÁNDEZ, RESEARCH SCIENTIST AT DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN, SAYING: "Everybody always had thought that cacti are perfectly adapted to heat and drought. For that reason, nobody has studied how more extreme temperatures than these ones kind of affect them. So we just started, right, and we're going to see, we're going to go out there, take samples, see how they deal with this at the molecular level, why genes are turning on and off, and we're going to start studying this. Phoenix is the perfect location for that." MOUNTAIN WITH SEVERAL SAGUARO CACTI VARIOUS OF SAGUARO CACTUS DRY AT THE BOTTOM HALF (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. TANIA HERNÁNDEZ, RESEARCH SCIENTIST AT DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN, SAYING: "These plants are adapted to this heat, but at some point, the heat needs to cool down and water needs to come and if that doesn't happen, the prolonged exposure to extreme heat without being able to cool down, affects significantly the plants." VARIOUS OF SAGUARO CACTUS (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. TANIA HERNÁNDEZ, RESEARCH SCIENTIST AT DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN, SAYING: "Yeah, we call it a desert, there's many types of deserts in the world and there's some of them, some of them are drier than others, of course. This one is not as dry. For the people that live in here we know that it rains and it can rain a lot, particularly around these dates, the monsoon in the summer. And also we receive a little bit of rain in winter and that rain is crucial for plants here." VARIOUS OF SAGUARO CACTUS (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. TANIA HERNÁNDEZ, RESEARCH SCIENTIST AT DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN, SAYING: "This year we are, we are still waiting for new rain in the Sonoran Desert. You, everybody, all the ecosystem depends on those rains this late summer rains, we call them monsoon. And plants can hold on during the whole dry season for this wet season to arrive, but they just can hold so long, right? And if the rain doesn't arrive on time, the plant starts suffering for internal damage." RESEARCH SCIENTIST, DR. TANIA HERNÁNDEZ, POINTING AT CACTI CACTI SEVERAL SAGUARO CACTI ON A MOUNTAIN CACTI / RESEARCH SCIENTIST, DR. TANIA HERNÁNDEZ, WALKING
  • Embargoed: 8th August 2023 21:26
  • Keywords: Arizona Climate change Heat wave cacti
  • Location: PHOENIX, ARIZONA, UNITED STATES
  • City: PHOENIX, ARIZONA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Environment,North America,Nature/Wildlife
  • Reuters ID: LVA001990025072023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Arizona’s extreme heat and prolonged drought are taking a toll on resilient desert cacti like the state’s iconic Saguaro.
    Research scientist Dr. Tania Hernandez said in an interview with Reuters that the plants are showing signs of distress, such as losing their arms, falling, leaning, and changing shapes. She says researchers still don't know if this is related to extreme heat and drought due to climate change, but they suspect that is the case.
    Desert plants are adapted to heat and drought, Hernandez said and can survive in harsh conditions, but only for so long until needing water. Arizona typically receives monsoon rains in the summer. However, this year, the Sonoran Desert has seen practically no rain.
    Researchers at the Desert Botanical Garden are at the beginning stage of their investigation. They plan to take samples to see how cacti deal with extreme heat at the molecular level, Hernandez said.
    (Production: Liliana Salgado)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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