Gardening Etcetera: What climate change may bring to northern Arizona gardens

Surveys repeatedly show a large majority (70-85%) of Americans are very concerned about climate change impacts. As gardeners, we are more intimately connected and attuned to the environment than most. What can we and our gardens expect from the shifting climate here in northern Arizona?

Thinking of climate change only as “global warming” is an oversimplification. Averaged across the earth’s surface, the globe has indeed warmed in the last 50 years. In fact, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the years 2016 to 2025 have been the 10 hottest years since 1850. But no place is actually “average,” and our gardens are affected more by extremes than by averages.