Saguaros all over Phoenix have been dying. They are dropping limbs which is a phenomenon that has never happened before. The ones that don't have limbs yet are turning brown and rotting. We're experiencing record heat and even cactus can't take it. (Photo of a house in my neighborhood.)
Looks more like the home owner, or developer, laid tar paper around the ground, thus cutting off any chance of what little rain PHX gets to soak in. Not to mention compaction of the soil while building that house. Additional heat reflected from the house, amazing how much heat a building absorbs and relfects. Looks like it also tried to compensate by trying to grow new limbs lower down the trunk.
Natural plants have a difficult time surviving the bulldozer.
@byrdlip true what you said, but this is happening all over the valley. This is just but one example of the many in all possible growing conditions. Also, we've had but scant amounts of rain for months now.
@blueberry1222 Saguaro National Monument (now a National Park) had many that also looked like that, even back in the 70's. It was explained that they only like so long and will start to loose limbs first, then fall over and rot. Ah, the smell of rotting saguaro in the morning, that is nature.
@byrdlip ya, but we've never seen it at this scale. And it's not just the saguaros that we're seeing die, it is happening to everything. https://redd.it/ifa26v
@blueberry1222 My bad, sources quoted got the dates wrong/inconsistent.
Don't get me wrong, humans are screwing up the desert. I don't know about PHX, but taste the water in TUC and see if you think you are drinking from a swimming pool. Try to get anything to grow in that water.
Every building is a heat sink, building underground would be a help, but them you have to destroy the ground to accomplish that, and you are also making a great habitat for the creepy-crawlies that native to the area. If you have every shaken your boots out in the morning and had a scorpion fall out, you know what I mean.
Natural plants have a difficult time surviving the bulldozer.
Don't get me wrong, humans are screwing up the desert. I don't know about PHX, but taste the water in TUC and see if you think you are drinking from a swimming pool. Try to get anything to grow in that water.
Every building is a heat sink, building underground would be a help, but them you have to destroy the ground to accomplish that, and you are also making a great habitat for the creepy-crawlies that native to the area. If you have every shaken your boots out in the morning and had a scorpion fall out, you know what I mean.