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YOUNG-WHITE: Wildfires, flash floods
and a dramatically shortened cuffing season.
Climate change is affecting America
and nowhere more than Phoenix, Arizona.
REPORTER: In Phoenix, they say it's too hot to fly.
REPORTER 2: 44 people had to be rescued.
REPORTER 3: Arizona officials are urging locals
to avoid hiking during extreme heat.
YOUNG-WHITE: So I headed to Arizona to find out for myself
just how bad the heat can get.
(panting)
-(hawk screeches) -(exhales)
(grunts, pants)
(grunts)
(panting)
To explain the science behind my sweaty balls,
I met with climate expert Brian Stone.
Climate change is very much happening today
and has been with us for many decades already.
If you are under the age of 34 today...
(laughs) "If"?
-(laughs): I'm sorry. -...every month of your life,
-um, has been... -If I'm under 34.
Every month of your life has been in a-- in a climate
that is much warmer than we've seen for thousands of years.
Is that how old you are?
And third-degree burns like that
are becoming the new normal here in Phoenix.
You're seeing 100 days a year
with temperatures over 100 degrees.
And there have been many warnings for us
that we haven't listened to
-leading up until this point, right? -Yeah.
Nelly has been warning us about Phoenix since 2003.
I really don't know anything about that.
"Hot in Herre." It was sort of, like, this pleading cry
to the public, like, "It's getting hot in here, please..."
-Yeah. -"...take off all your clothes."
-Yeah. -And we didn't listen.
Um, maybe.
Brian walked me through some
of Phoenix's new climate adaptations,
like smooth reflective surfaces
and, of course, landscaping.
But the biggest change: Arizona is shifting
daytime activities to night.
That's right. It's gotten so hot
that jogging, hiking
and even construction work are now happening...
(singsongy): after-hours. What?
So I went to do one of my favorite things,
hang out with a bunch of guys laying pipe.
(loud whirring)
Ugh. Gross.
But when the sun goes down,
things at the concrete pour do get a little freaky.
But it's not all pleasuring concrete bridges to completion.
Working at night can affect cognitive performance
and lead to tragic accidents.
I can't find my-- I think my phone is in there!
Climate change hasn't just affected
these sex-positive Village People-style jobs--
it's also changing the way that people have fun.
So I met up with the Arizona Trailblazers Hiking Club
for a night hike.
Here's a black light for you. You can use this
to try to look and see if there's any, uh, critters--
-uh, scorpions, snakes, uh... -What?
Yeah, there's lots of wildlife in these--
-in the flora around us. -You said-- Sorry.
Repeat that. Sorry. What was that?
Scorpions. We can look for them using these black lights.
Okay, first of all, terrifying.
Second, scorpions glow under black lights?
I have some questions.
Why do they glow?
Is it because they're covered in (bleep)?
I don't believe that's the-the reason.
And these (bleep) scorpions were ready to pop off.
-(screams) -He's pointing his tail at you.
I think you've really angered him.
Oh, my God, I thought he was waving.
Because he's such a little guy,
he probably doesn't have venom yet, right?
Oh, no, that's the worst kind.
The smaller scorpions are more venomous
than the larger species.
-Gary, stop. Stop! -Here's another. It's real small.
Oh, my God, he picked it up.
He picked it up. Gary, no.
-GARY: Now... -Gary, stop! Stop! -(laughs)
-What? -Gary, stop playing!
I hope he comes back.
-(howling) -Lost in the Arizona desert.
It felt like things couldn't get any worse.
Oh, my God.
One reply on my scorpion video!
(crying)
Mountain lion, come get me now!
But when the sun finally rose,
I saw how beautiful Arizona looked
without an iPhone flashlight on it.
Must have been cool to hang out here without dying
of heatstroke.
Climate change might be in Arizona today,
but it's coming for the rest of America.
Luckily, I knew just the plan
to get the government to take serious action.
I've released 100 (bleep) scorpions into these chambers,
-and the doors are locked until you pass -(gasping)
comprehensive climate reform!
No, I don't know why they're covered in (bleep)!
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