Hearing on the radio (NPR) that #Arizona is becoming too hot and dry for #saguaro cactus.

#ThisIsFine
#Climate

Extreme #heat in Arizona is causing iconic #saguaro cacti to lose arms, tilt to one side, or collapse entirely> https://bit.ly/3CzL6tn

#Saguaro #cacti collapsing in #Arizona #ExtremeHeat, scientist says

By Liliana Salgado, July 25, 2023

PHOENIX (Reuters) - "Arizona's saguaro cacti, a symbol of the U.S. West, are leaning, losing arms and in some cases falling over during the state's record streak of extreme heat, a scientist said on Tuesday.

"Summer monsoon rains the cacti rely on have failed to arrive, testing the desert giants' ability to survive in the wild as well as in cities after temperatures above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 Celsius) for 25 days in Phoenix, said Tania Hernandez.

"'These plants are adapted to this heat, but at some point the heat needs to cool down and the water needs to come,' said Hernandez, a research scientist at Phoenix's 140-acre (57-hectare) Desert Botanical Garden, which has over 2/3 of all cactus species, including saguaros which can grow to over 40 feet (12 meters)."

Read more:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/saguaro-cacti-collapsing-in-arizona-extreme-heat-scientist-says/ar-AA1emxpM?rc=1&ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=d01e060082044dbfdce014b71aa1c44d&ei=10

#ExtremeHeat #ExtremeHeat #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange #ClimateCatastrophe #Extinction

#goodMorningFriends ☕ ☕ 💞 💞 🐕 🐕 💞 💞 🌵 🌵 💞 💞

Yesterday's thing (of which I was irrationally afraid) involved being a van driver for a group of students from AILDI* out to a camp in #SaguaroNationalPark West in order to learn about the O'odham traditional saguaro fruit harvest, bahidaj.

I don't like driving, and I really don't like driving groups of ppl...but wow it turned out to be a beautiful evening!

#saguaro #cactus #sonoranDesert #traditionalPractices

Like the peoples who live among them, Saguaro have honed their resilience through centuries of life in the desert, and ecologists are hopeful they can be leaders, and not just victims, in our changing climate. 

View “Saguaro,” by Bear Guerra.
https://emergencemagazine.org/gallery/saguaro/ #ShiftingLandscapes #Desert #Cacti #Saguaro #Photography

Sonoran spring. This is the Sonoran Desert in western Arizona from March 1984. Unusual winter rains had covered the landscape with new growth, and lots of desert flowers, including the blossoms on the ocotillo to the left.

#hiking #photography #landscapephotography #hikingadventures #nature #Arizona #spring #March #desert #cactus #desertflowers #desertspring #springtime #SonoranDesert #saguaro

“The saguaro can be understood as free of the earth, like human beings…” — Jane H. Hill and Ofelia Zepeda

View “Saguaro,” by Bear Guerra.
https://emergencemagazine.org/gallery/saguaro/
#ShiftingLandscapes #Cacti #SonoranDesert #Saguaro

In the Sonoran Desert, Saguaro have long been treated as family and respected members of the community. Today, this desert keystone species is threatened. Read this week’s newsletter featuring Bear Guerra’s portraits of these rooted beings. https://mailchi.mp/emergencemagazine/portraits-of-saguaro-in-the-sonoran-desert #ShiftingLandscapes #Cacti #SonoranDesert #Saguaro

Saguaros, the largest cactus in the world are in bloom all over the Sonora Desert. I love these guys 🌵❤️

#Nature #desert #cactus #saguaro #Travel #Arizona

In this week’s photo essay, photographer Bear Guerra illuminates the enduring personhood and presence of the Saguaro, or Ha:san, long revered by the O’odham peoples of the Sonoran Desert.

View “Saguaro,” by Bear Guerra.
https://emergencemagazine.org/gallery/saguaro/ #ShiftingLandscapes #Cacti #SonoranDesert #Saguaro

Hello, friends please enjoy this giant saguaro who lives at a neighbor's house.

The saguaros at this house, and some others in various places, have for the past two years been blooming in this weird way - putting out clusters of buds from the sides of their main stalks instead of just from the tops.

I think that this is an indicator of stress, but I'm not sure. Last year was the first time I'd ever seen it.

#saguaro #cactus #sonoranDesert #Tucson #climateChange?

#Saguaro 🌵 are an important part of the #biotic community in the #Sonoran #Desert 🏜️. They are a vital part of the diet of #Indigenous people in the area.

Due to #climate #change-related shifts in #weather, the mature individuals are no longer reproducing. They are dying without being replaced.

The #IUCN currently lists them as "least concern" but also "declining." The most recent assessment is from 2017.

See:

🔗 https://insideclimatenews.org/news/10042023/saguaro-restoration-climate-change/

🔗 https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/152495/121476885

🔗 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11258-014-0326-y

oh and this might be a good time to remind ourselves that the 'scientific' name for the saguaro, "Carnegiea gigantea" is an abomination and should be immediately changed.

It's basically a vanity name for the Carnegie family ffs.

#science #politics #saguaro #cactus

Good morning, friends ☕ ☕ 💞 💞 🐕 🐕

Here's a #ThickTrunkTuesday from our place - close up of a heart shaped hole (or 'boot') in a giant saguaro's armpit. The boots are used by Gila Woodpeckers and others as nests, but at the moment this one appears to be empty.

And this saguaro is at least 6' taller than our house, and has multi-arms, so definitely predates the development of houses in our area.

#goodMorning #saguaro #cactus #Tucson

In the US, today is National Junior Ranger Day! I love 🥰 the National Park Service Junior Ranger Program & have earned 7 Junior Ranger badges including a Virtual Junior Ranger badge from Yosemite! The Junior Ranger program offers in-person as well as online activities for Junior Rangers of all ages! https://www.nps.gov/subjects/npscelebrates/national-junior-ranger-day.htm

#nature #NationalPark #JuniorRanger #CarlsbadCaverns #Sequoia #KingsCanyon #KenaiFjords #Saguaro #Denali # Pinnacles #Yosemite

High Sun Saguaro Blossoms
9×12 in. c.a. 2019

A bit rough around the edges, but it served as an experiment for how I might achieve the cactus needles accurately and without masking fluid. I don't think masking would have given the correct tapered appearance.

The key was to use an old school adjustable drafting pen. I set a narrow pen's width, loaded it with color via a brush, and a flick of the wrist gave a good result.

#MastoArt #watercolor #watercolour #aquarelle #saguaro #cactus #flowers

#saguaro #fountainhills #arizona

One of my favorite crested #saguaro on a cloudy, windy day from the Sunset Pass trail in Robles Pass Park. #tucson

Some photos of Saguaro National Park from a recent trip to Tucson, AZ.

#saguaro #tucson #arizona

I hike this trail almost every day but it looked a little different yesterday 🥶
#Tucson #snow #Saguaro #SonoranDesert