The heart of the Phoenix metro area — and its downtowns, in particular — has faced decades dealing with the effects of the urban heat island.

Put simply, we experience it in areas where there are fewer trees and less grass and more pavement and buildings that retain heat. Climate change’s impact has only made the urban heat island more powerful.

In a recent piece for Wired, Matt Simon reported on what could be done — and needs to be done — to lessen the effects of the urban heat island, and whether classifying those effects as part of a formal illness or disease should be one of the steps.

The Show spoke with him to learn about his findings.

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