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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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