Climate data reveals a hotter, drier Arizona, with more extremes possible

John Loleit has kept a watchful eye on the towering saguaros and well-worn trails of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve for 22 years. Loleit, the natural resources coordinator for Scottsdale, takes to the wilds of the 47-square-mile park almost every day in all weather, mending fences, leading hikes and training park employees and volunteers, encouraging visitors to look for clues about what’s happening to the environment around them from year to year. “I tell folks, pick out a saguaro cactus, and that’s your saguaro. Every time you pass by, just take a look at it. Look at the main trunk,” Loleit said. “Over a period of time, are you seeing that it’s thin, and its ribs are shrinking and losing water or then they’re opening up and fat if we’ve got rain?” - Cronkite News