New analysis by an environmental watchdog finds that mainstream media selectively report high temperatures from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport to bolster climate change claims, while overlooking lower readings from other local weather stations and historical data showing significant temperature variability. Steven Milloy, an environmental and public health consultant, challenged the narrative of unprecedented heat on his platform JunkScience.com, highlighting discrepancies in temperature reporting and the influence of urban heat island effects.
The mainstream media has been warning that Phoenix is experiencing very high temperatures this summer, claiming that is a result of climate change. They point to the highest temperatures that weather stations report, which are taken from locations like Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. It has higher temperatures due to all the concrete and airplane exhaust. Some of the other weather stations around Phoenix consistently report lower temperatures, but the media never pulls the weather from them.
The temperature in Phoenix typically fluctuates year to year, with some years hotter than others. Phoenix is located in a desert, and in this modern era of social media, alerts, and texting, there are now numerous frequent warnings about heat, creating an impression that the desert’s predictably high temperatures are alarming.
But according to the National Weather Service (NWS), Phoenix has also experienced some very low temperatures this summer. The NWS reported that on June 1, at the airport, the highest temperature was 90. The historic average for June 1 there was far higher, 100.4. On June 22, the highest temperature there was 98, while the historic high average was 105.8. On June 25, the highest temperature was 102, while the historic high average was 106.2. On July 3, the highest temperature was 101, while the historic high average was 106.8. On July 4, the highest temperature was 102, while the historic high average was 106.9.
The record temperatures in history on those days were far higher. For example, on July 3, the record high was 117 — 16 degrees higher than this year. The media selectively omitted reporting the lower temperature days.
During the winter, there have been several days in recent years where the temperature in Phoenix was 32 degrees or lower; they occurred in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2019. Both 2022 and 2023 experienced lower winter temperatures than normal, dipping to the mid-30s. Due to La Niña, last winter was slightly warmer than usual.
The hottest year in Arizona’s history was 2017, not this summer or last summer. While average temperatures have reportedly increased since the last century, there is no analysis of how much this is due to other factors, such as the increasing amount of concrete in the expanding city. Many of the weather stations are located in areas surrounded by pavement, buildings, and vehicles, and in direct sunlight. Urban areas are typically 1–7 degrees hotter than rural areas due to the urban heat island effect. Additionally, years ago, such as in the 1950s, weather stations only captured the temperature once or twice a day, so they did not capture the peak temperatures of each day.
