by Carolyn Classen, blogger

“Too Hot to Work” Film and Panel Discussion

“We Don’t Take Summer Lightly in Arizona Anymore

Welcome to a new season in the Sonoran Desert: Heat Season

So far, this past April was the second-warmest April globally since official record-keeping began in 1850, according to Berkeley Earth.

Tucson and Phoenix broke records in April 2025. Phoenix experienced its first 100-degree day on April 10, then went on to set a new record on April 11 when it hit 103 degrees. In Tucson, the 100-degree day came on April 11. Never before has either city reached 100 degrees before May, according to the Weather Service. 

From now until the heat ends, hopefully in early October (fyi, last October was the hottest October on record for both Tucson and Phoenix), Arizona city and county governments and health and faith organizations are preparing as much as possible for what could or might come. But these aren’t “regular” times.

Who knows what the summer of ’25 has in store?

 ‘Science Cafe’ at the UA: How Extreme Heat Is Affecting Workers Who Labor Under the Sun

Panel Discussion Follows Showing of the Just-Released Documentary, ‘Too Hot to Work’

Date: Thursday, May 29, 2025

Time: 5:30pm* – 7:30pm AZ (Door opens at 5:00pm)

Where: UA Campus, Tucson 

Virtual: Zoom

Register: bit.ly/extremeheatsciencecafe

Register by: Tuesday, May 27, 2025, 11:59pm AZ

Location and Zoom link will be sent after registration

Extreme heat is a threat to public health — especially the health of those who work in the sun. Learn what’s known to date on heat and health as a panel of experts and community representatives explore how a warmer climate is transforming the way people work and the “heightened and urgent” need for collaboration among workers, businesses, community organizations, and the government to mitigate heat-related health risks.

The newly released documentary, “Too Hot to Work | Extreme Heat & Worker Health Implications,” opens the program, which will premiere June 20 on Europe’s public service channel Arte. Produced by global mitigation organization La Isla Network (LIN), “Too Hot to Work” was filmed in shot in Italy, France, Qatar, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Nepal, the United States, and India, and spotlights a newly emerging, heat-related kidney condition that originated among sugar cane workers in Nicaragua.”