Excessive Heat and the Saguaro

NPS Photo

Is Heat Hurting the Saguaro?

The summer monsoon is a magical time in the desert! However, some monsoon seasons arrive later than usual. This means hotter temperatures and less precipitation than average at this time of year. The summer of 2023 was noted as one of the driest and hottest. While we have started hitting record-breaking temperatures in the Sonoran Desert, it is still too early to determine the extent to which this season could be an outlier. In 2020, we had an incredibly dry and hot monsoon season, but 2021 and 2022 showed up as some of the wettest seasons.

Since the summer of 2023, there has been concern of saguaros dying or being damaged due to the excessive heat we have been experiencing. However, there is no indication of this phenomenon occurring at Saguaro National Park. If anything, our concerns in seasons of drought revolve around the establishment of new saguaros. Seedlings are vulnerable in their early years as they attempt to take root and grow in the Sonoran Desert, and they cannot store water when they are very young. Thus, drier seasons can be a threat to new generations.

Plants & Animals

Seasons of minimal rainfall put stress on the plants and animals of the Sonoran
Desert, but there is still time for more water! It is too early in the monsoon to determine whether there will be any shifts in reproduction and survival among the species in the area. Also, it is important to remember the resilience of the desert and its inhabitants. In the midst of a changing cimate, our plants and animals are continually adapting to the environment.

Climate Change

The summer of 2023 shaped up to be one of the hottest on record for the Sonoran Desert, as well as one of the hottest globally, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This late monsoon and extreme heat cannot be fully attributed to climate change; seasons differ from year to year. However, climate change does play a part.