It’s getting hot in Arizona. It’s so hot resilient cacti are falling over and dying due to the blistering heat that has a strong hold on the state.
Arizona’s iconic saguaro cacti are leaning, losing limbs, and even falling over with the summer monsoon rains just not coming, Reuters reported.
Tania Hernandez, a research scientist at Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden, noted the unprecedented heat wave that’s causing them to die, despite the plants usually withstanding Arizona’s traditionally high summer temperatures.
Reuters reported that the city saw temperatures above 110 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 days in a row. But not all the cacti will die immediately, Hernandez told Reuters, adding that they suffer internal damage if they don’t cool down at night by rain or most.
Kimberlie McCue, the Chief Science Officer at the Desert Botanical Garden says the cacti have been “highly stressed” due to the extreme heat.
McCue and her team, assess the Botanical Garden’s cacti at the beginning of each year and said they are seeing more death among the Arizona saguaro cacti since 2020 when record highs caused the plants to undergo stress.
Those cacti that had already been stressed out due to high temps are being hit even harder, causing them to lose their limbs or even collapse.
The cacti are supposed to live anywhere from 150 to 175 years long. Some plants may even live to be over 200.
