The Arizona Trail Association is requesting help in winning a $50,000 grant for a trail project in Saguaro National Park-Rincon Mountain District.

Through midnight May 31, citizens may vote twice daily among five national finalists for this Redwood Creek Greater Outdoors Project grant. Redwood Creek, a California winery, will give the money to the project receiving the most votes.

Anyone may vote once a day online and once a day by text message. To vote online, visit www.blazethetrail.com/greatoutdoors/vote. Send text message votes to 39668 with the voting code “trail.”

The grant money would fund the Saguaro National Park Connector Trail, a five-mile stretch of the Arizona Trail into the park that must be constructed by hand due to its remoteness and the rugged landscape.

The trail would allow access into backcountry areas and protect a sensitive riparian area.

For more information, visit www.aztrail.org.

Forecast calls for triple digits, 2 weeks early

City employee Mike Botkin talks about the heat as he works at Sunset Park Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday, the temperature is predicted to reach 100 degrees here for the first time this year.

Summer is still six weeks away, but the heat is already here.

The National Weather Service is predicting temperatures will hit 100 Thursday, which would tie for the sixth earliest date on record for Tucson’s first 100-degree day. The last time it was 100 on May 7 was in 1895.

Tucson’s earliest 100-degree day was April 19, 1989. The latest came on June 22, 1905. The average is May 26.

“I think we’ve got a really good shot at hitting it. I want to say about a 95 percent chance,” said Steven Reedy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “Usually at this time of year, temperatures average about 86 degrees in the first week of May.”

But, Reedy said, “We’re running about 10 degrees above average now.”

A high-pressure ridge stretching across the western United States has brought the heat, said meteorologist Mic Sherwood of the National Weather Service.

Now that we know it’s getting hot – what do people do?

“I stay in air conditioning,” Reedy said.

That’s good news for Louise Ayers’ business, A & D Air Conditioning & Refrigeration.

“It (hot weather) speeds it (business) up a little bit,” said Ayers who co-owns the business with her husband and son.

Despite the grim economy, Ayers said her business already has started to pick up because of the heat.

While many customers call for seasonal service as early as March, others don’t call until it gets hot, they turn on their air conditioner and find that it doesn’t work right, Ayers said.

Ayers agrees with Reedy – when it gets hot, stay indoors.

“I stay in the house. We have air conditioning and . . . I stay where it’s nice and cool,” she said.

It’s also expensive.

As air conditioners kick on across the city, homeowners’ electrical use jumps from an average of about 600 kilowatt hours in March to about 1,400 kilowatt hours in July, at a cost of some $140 a month for the average Tucson homeowner, said Joe Salkowski, a Tucson Electric Power Co. spokesman.

Water bills also increase.

In January, Tucsonans pay an average $17.04 for water, said Vikki Hibberd, a Tucson Water spokeswoman.

But in July, the average home water bill rises to $24.72 she said.

And if you own a pool. . .

“Pool business picks up,” said Tim Fellhauer, owner of Presidio Pool & Spa. “It (higher temperatures) does help my business.”

Jose Herrera, owner of Umbrella Roofing, definitely is not looking forward to, if it occurs, 100 degrees in Tucson on Thursday.

“When it’s real warm, for roofers, it’s real warm, real hot. It’s terrible,” said Herrera, who has been in the roofing business 23 years. “We have to have a lot of water. I know how it feels to be up on that roof.”

As the run-up to 100 degrees inched along, Mike Botkin, a groundskeeper with the city’s Parks & Recreation Department, cleared leaves and branches from Sunset Park in front of City Hall on Wednesday.

When the temperature reaches 100, Botkin said, “You stay cool as much as you can, drink plenty of water, take your breaks.”

Botkin, 47, was working in the sun at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the tiny park. He wore blue denim shorts, a light blue T-shirt and a wide-brimmed straw hat. The high Wednesday was 98, according to the National Weather Service.

“I don’t mind it, you get used to it,” Botkin said. But “I prefer for it to be back in the 80s.”

After work, Botkin said he will go home, “jump in the pool and turn the air conditioner on.”

Timothy Pease, an unemployed tool maker, said 100-degree weather is “a fact of life here in Tucson.”

As Pease, 58, sat and read a book in the shade of a downtown bus stop, he said that when the temperature hits 100, he will avoid being outside as much as possible.

“It’s a little brutal” when it gets that hot, Pease said. “I find the shade, stay in air conditioning.”

Because he’s unemployed, Pease said, he uses his air conditioner less than he used to so as he can save money.

George Ballesteros, 49, a clerk at the Pima County Public Defenders Office, said of the predicted heat for Thursday,”It just makes it seem that summer drags on and on.

Ballesteros said that on Thursday he will avoid doing yard work after 10 or 11 a.m.

And take cold showers “for sure,” he said.

Liz Brown walks through El Presidio Park Wednesday afternoon while trying to avoid the sun.

Timothy Pease, 58, finds some shade as he waits at a bus stop in front of the Old Pima County Courthouse, 115 N. Church Ave.

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Saving energy

Tucson Electric Power’s tips on how to save energy and money:

• Use ceiling or oscillating fans to keep air moving, so you feel cooler without increasing air conditioner use.

• Caulking around door frames and installing weatherstripping around door openings are inexpensive and highly effective means of saving energy.

• Replace traditional incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) that carry the Energy Star label. Energy Star-qualified CFLs use about 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer. They also generate about 75 percent less heat, so they can cut energy costs associated with home cooling.

• Don’t block vents or ducts inside the house. Maintaining clear air paths allows your cooling and heating systems to work more efficiently.

• About 80 to 85 percent of the energy involved in washing clothes is used to heat the water. There are two good ways to reduce the amount of energy used for washing clothes – use less water and lower the temperature. Switching your temperature setting from hot to warm can cut energy use in half.

• The U.S. Department of Energy recommends thermostat settings of 78 degrees in the summer and 68 degrees in the winter.

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Water-saving tips

• Use gray water from your washer, bathtubs, showers and bath sinks to irrigate your landscape.

• Put new washers in faucets to stop drips and save up to 50 gallons a day.

• Replace the faulty flapper on the toilet. A running toilet can waste up to 100 gallons of water a day.

• A little soil can make the rain work for you. Build a berm or dig a shallow channel to direct rainwater to your plants. Also, a tree well helps keep water where the tree can use it.

• Gutters, downspouts and cisterns can help store rainwater for use over a longer period of time.

• Water yards early in the morning or in the late evening when it is cooler and more water will soak into the ground instead of evaporating.

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On the Web

For more information on the weather, Tucson Water or Tucson Electric Co., visit the following Web sites:

National Weather Service at: www.wrh.noaa.gov/total_forecast

Tucson Electric Power at: www.tucsonelectric.com

Tucson Water at: www.tucsonaz.gov/water

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EARLIEST DATES TO HIT 100 DEGREES

1. April 19, 1989

2. April 27, 1992

April 27, 1910

4. April 30, 1943

5. May 2, 1947

6.* May 7, 1895

7. May 8, 2001

8. May 9, 1984

May 9, 1934

May 9, 1923

May 9, 1900

* The National Weather Service predicts the 100 mark could be hit Thursday, tying for sixth-earliest on record.

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LATEST DATES TO HIT 100 DEGREES

1. June 22, 1905

2. June 19, 1962

3. June 17, 1967

4. June 16, 1972

5. June 15, 1971

6. June 14, 1931

7. June 13, 1945

8. June 12, 1979

9. June 11, 1953

10. June 10, 1982

June 10 1961

June 10, 1950

Average first occurrence of 100 degrees in Tucson from 1895-2008 is May 26.

Proper protection and detection can allow you – and your skin – to live in harmony with the sun.

The Arizona Cancer Center’s Skin Cancer Institute will show you how this weekend.

Events to promote sun safety, awareness and skin cancer prevention will take place from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, said Robin Harris, deputy director at the institute.

“Southeast Arizona has some of the highest skin cancer rates, other than Australia,” Harris said.

“Skin cancer is a treatable disease if found early,” she said. “Our goal is to make changes in the community.”

Arizona in 2008 had 1,380 new cases of melanoma, a skin cancer that can quickly spread to other parts of the body.

“Melanoma is deadly. If you have a more advanced case, the survival rate is not good,” said Heather Hiscox, a cancer research specialist.

The event will feature skin cancer screenings days, Harris said.

Eight volunteer dermatologists will do full-body exams, and advise people with suspicious skin features to seek further medical attention, she said.

The skin exams can accommodate about 100 people per day on a first-come, first-served basis, she said.

Attendees also can get an ultraviolet photo of their face taken, Hiscox said. The UV photo can show underlying skin damage that is not visible to the human eye, she said.

A device will be available to determine the level of UV protection different items of clothing offer.

A number of activities are aimed at youngsters, including educational puppet shows.

Protection from the sun can come in many forms, said Lisa Quale, health educator at the cancer center.

Clothing can protect the skin from the sun, she said. Long sleeves and hats are important, and she said many people forget about covering their feet for protection, she said.

Umbrellas are also an effective way to stay in the shade wherever you go, she said.

Exercising outdoors early or late in the day will avoid the worst of the sun’s damaging rays, she said.

And sunblock is a must, she said.

Effective sunblocks and sunscreens should have an SPF – sun protection factor – of at least 15 and contain one of the following ingredients: zinc oxide, titanium oxide, avobenzone or mexoryl.

Sun protection should be applied 30 minutes before going out, and reapplied every two hours, or more frequently if sweat or swimming dictate, she said.

A critical factor in preventing skin cancer is performing regular self exams looking for suspicious growths, Harris said.

Factors to look for include moles with asymmetrical shapes, irregular borders, varying color, large diameter and changes in shape or color, she said.

A partner can help check moles and growths in areas where you cannot see, she said, or you can use a mirror for areas that are difficult to view.

The Desert Museum event helps kick off May’s national Melanoma and Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month, Hiscox said.

———

IF YOU GO

What: “Living in Harmony with the Sun” events promoting sun safety, awareness and skin cancer prevention

When: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Where: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2021 N. Kinney Road

Cost: Free with regular admission to museum: $13 for ages 13 and older, $4.25 for ages 6-12 and free for 5 and younger.

Miller turned this Sam Hughes neighborhood dwelling into the only existing masonry home to qualify for Tucson Electric Power's Guarantee Home Program, which offers discounted rates.

Green builder John Wesley Miller wanted to prove a point.

So he plopped down $450,000 for a leaky, inefficient 1962 home in the Sam Hughes neighborhood and started adding things like solar panels, a solar water heater, a super-efficient heat pump and double-pane windows.

When he was finished, Miller had the only existing masonry home to qualify for Tucson Electric Power’s Guarantee Home Program, which offers discounts and heating and cooling price guarantees to energy-efficient houses.

The program is designed for new homes.

“We wanted to show that you could take an old house and turn it into a superefficient home,” Miller said recently during a tour of the 2,000-square-foot ranch home at 3002 E. Hawthorne St.

TEP worked with Miller throughout the renovation, said Dan Hogan, the company’s supervisor of residential new construction programs.

For new construction there are normally three inspections required for a home to qualify – for framing, insulation and airflow – but inspectors visited the Miller house an extra time, Hogan said.

The program gives a roughly 10 percent discount on electric rates for the life of the home and a guarantee from TEP that your heating and cooling costs won’t rise above a certain level for five years. That cost is custom-set for each home, Hogan said.

Miller’s isn’t the first existing home to qualify for the program, but the others required far more extensive upgrades.

“It’s the first one we didn’t strip to the studs,” Hogan said.

Though the lift was lighter than the previous attempts, getting the masonry house up to the TEP standard was not easy.

“Practically everything you see is new,” Miller said.

That includes extra insulation on the outside of the burnt adobe walls, which was then covered with a layer of plaster.

New windows ($6,000), a rooftop solar electric panel and water heater ($15,000-$20,000), insulation and new stucco ($10,000-$15,000) and a new heating and cooling system ($6,000-$8,000) are among the improvements that helped earn the TEP guarantee, Miller said.

The roof was topped with an extra 4 inches of insulation, too.

The changes were not a good investment. Miller put about $300,000 into the house and has it listed for $699,000, he said.

“I won’t even get my money out of it,” he said.

Originally, Miller thought he could make money from the renovation, which includes custom woodwork and solid cherry doors, Corian countertops and all new tile throughout.

But ultimately he simply wanted to encourage recycling on a new level, he said.

“This is the ultimate recycling. You recycle a whole house.”

Renovations that meet the Guarantee Home standards will continue to be rare, Hogan said.

“It’s just too expensive. Until it can be done much cheaper, I don’t think it’s going to be done too frequently,” he said.

“But it’s good to know it can be done, because then you can look for ways to make it economical.”

Green builder John Wesley Miller shows the tankless water heater and the blower for a high-efficiency heat pump at the home. Miller has put about $300,000 into the house.

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On the Web

TEP Guarantee Home Program: www.tep.com/Green/GuaranteeHome

Abode walls going up on city’s re-creation of 18th-century structure

Construction crews continue to build the wall that will someday enclose the Rio Nuevo Mission Gardens Heritage Park at the base of "A" Mountain. The 4-acre garden is to be lined with fruit trees such as pomegranates and grapes.

The adobe walls re-creating the 18th century Mission Gardens should be completed in a couple of weeks, but don’t expect to see anything growing there any time soon.

Former City Manager Mike Hein in February shelved planting the gardens in favor of focusing all Rio Nuevo attention on the Tucson Convention Center area. That hasn’t changed under newly appointed City Manager Mike Letcher.

“I have not received any other direction,” said Fran LaSala, an assistant to Letcher. “As far as I know, we’re going to build the walls and vacate the site until they have funding to complete the gardens and maintain them in an appropriate manner.”

The garden walls cost $900,000 and completing the gardens would cost another $900,000 to $950,000, LaSala said.

The 4-acre site includes a buried pit house. “There is still a lot of archaeology there that we are not disturbing,” said Jeff Dupuis, superintendent with Lloyd Construction, the firm building the walls.

The gardens were supposed to be completed by this winter, but the City Council switched course in February and put the entire Tucson Origins project on hold. That includes the Mission Gardens, the Mission San Agustín, the University of Arizona Science Center/Arizona State Museum, Arizona History Museum and Tucson Children’s Museum.

The wall around the garden will be completed in about two weeks, Dupuis said.

By Teya Vitu, Renee Bracamonte

UA expert: Emissions feed droughts, which lead to more blazes

The Dude Fire, started by a lightning strike near Payson on June 25, 1990, killed six firefighters.

Man-caused fires play a significant role in global climate change, a University of Arizona researcher said Thursday.

“We found that approximately 20 percent of the warming effect of greenhouse gases is coming from deforestation fires set by people,” said Thomas W. Swetnam, UA professor and director of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research.

“This is more precise than what was previously available,” he said.

That figure includes only deforestation fires, or ones deliberately set to convert forests – often tropical rain forests – into farmlands and pasturelands, he said.

It does not include the wildfires – caused by man or acts of nature – that are seen regularly in the western United States and other areas, Swetnam said.

Large fires have a “feedback effect” that leads to more fires as well as climate change, Swetnam said.

“Warming conditions lead to more droughts, which lead to more fires. The fires release emissions, those go into the atmosphere and increases warming further,” he said. “Fire can actually generate more fire.”

This can include forest fires.

There are increasing numbers of so-called megafires in the western United States, Canada, Siberia and other regions, Swetnam said.

These megafires are at least partially driven by regional and global warming trends, he said.

“In the western United States, we have seen more than a sixfold increase in the total area burned the past two decades compared to the previous two decades,” he said. “Fire season in the western United States has increased by more than two months.”

Deadly fires in Australia are another example of the trend.

“Because of the high levels of industrial pollution that is changing the climate, we are already seeing changes in fire activity on Earth,” said David Bowman of the University of Tasmania in Hobart, Australia.

Bowman is a co-author of the paper that appears Friday in Science.

While the study more accurately reflects fire’s impact on climate change, much work remains, Swetnam said.

“In this paper, we make pains to talk about the difficulties and uncertainties that remain,” he said. “This is still a coarse-scale estimate on how much burning by people is contributing to global warming.

“It could be greater. There is potential for it to be considerably larger.”

The paper, “Fire in the Earth System,” calls for more research on the role fire plays in putting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, Swetnam said.

“If we want to understand climate change in the future, we need to build fire into the models,” Swetnam said.

“Fire is affecting people and people are affecting fire . . . we need to put fire on the center stage of our understanding,” he said.

Smoke plumes from a 2007 southern California wildfire billow out over the Pacific Ocean. University of Arizona research didn't even take into account wildfires when they found fires account for 20 percent of the warming effects of greenhouse gasses. However, fires breed more fires - including wildfires, the team's research shows.

‘Ground was just black,’ pest control firm manager says, recalling similar 1997 swarms

This hopper was involved in the '97 invasion.

The Chicago Bar on East Speedway may occasionally serve a grasshopper or two.

But no way was the bar ready for the grasshopper swarm that touched down early Wednesday.

“There were lots – hundreds of them,” said Bobby Soto, 28, who witnessed the 1 a.m. spectacle while hanging out with friends. “They were going all crazy. It was very odd, very peculiar.”

Hours later, an even larger swarm was spotted in the area of East 22nd Street and Kolb Road.

“It was like a biblical plague,” said Bill Lamer, who was riding his bicycle in the area at the time. “The ground was just black. I’ve never seen something that bad.”

And Lamer’s seen a lot. He’s the commercial branch manager for Truly Nolen, a pest control firm, at 3620 E. Speedway.

“This year it’s the grasshoppers’ turn,” he said. “Every year it’s something different.”

He said insects go through cycles, with conditions favoring a certain species each year.

Last year, it was the milkweed bug. A few years back, it was the giant armored beetles some call “sewer roaches.”

He said the last time grasshoppers had their heyday was about 10 years ago.

A Tucson Citizen story reporting thousands touching down in July 1997 backs up his recollection.

“Any general pesticide will kill them,” Lamer said, “but because they are in such large numbers, it’s not going to make much of a difference.”

He advised making sure doors and windows are sealed around their perimeters.

“The grasshoppers won’t harm anyone. They are just a nuisance. It’s not like we have crops in the middle of Tucson,” he said.

Anyone with a vegetable garden or ornamental plants may want to contact a nursery on how to protect them, he added.

A few got into Chicago Bar – and were killed by customers – but the rest stuck around the parking lot long enough to be witnessed by Jeff Driskill, 37.

He was arriving at his adjacent shop, Roy Metcaffe Automotive, at 7:45 a.m.

“They were all over the parking lot,” he said. “It wasn’t like a carpet, but I thought it was pretty weird.”

The grasshoppers also descended on an area about two miles southwest of the bar, at Ace Hardware on East Broadway and North Swan Road.

“The whole wall out back was covered with them,” said Ace manager Bobby Bilinsky, 28. “Maybe they were aliens.”

Bobby Soto, 28, re-enacts how he and others fended off a swarm of grasshoppers Wednesday morning at the Chicago Bar.

Partnership’s goal: Increase renewable energy use to 50%

The University of Arizona will soon make greater use of Tucson’s abundant sunshine by equipping more campus rooftops with solar panels.

UA’s goal is to increase its renewable energy generation to 50 percent within 10 years, President Robert Shelton said.

UA and APS Energy Services officials announced under sunny skies Wednesday – Earth Day – a partnership that will add 500 kilowatts of photovoltaic solar generation capacity.

In addition, thermal solar devices will heat swimming pool water.

The venture will decrease UA’s dependence on fossil fuels while reducing the school’s carbon footprint, Shelton said.

The project is expected to provide power to UA at about 9.5 cents per kilowatt-hour (normal grid rates), said Bob Georgeoff, APS Energy Services managing director.

APS will design, install, operate and maintain the system; UA will purchase the power generated, Georgeoff said.

This arrangement protects UA, and Arizona taxpayers, from financial liabilities for the project, said Ralph Banks, UA manager of engineering.

Installation of rooftop polycrystalline PV panels and solar thermal collectors is scheduled to begin in May and conclude by year’s end, Georgeoff said.

He declined to disclose the project’s cost.

The project continues the growth of UA’s renewable energy efforts, Shelton said.

“We will continue to add thermal and solar photovoltaic to the campus wherever we can,” he said. “In 10 years we should be able to generate half our energy through renewables.”

UA currently meets 5 percent to 10 percent of its energy needs through renewables, Banks said. The project will offset another 5 percent to 10 percent of UA’s energy needs to renewables, he said.

APS has worked with UA for more than 10 years to reduce energy use and boost the use of renewables.

Efforts have saved 55 million kilowatt-hours per year, Georgeoff said, as well as the carbon produced by 8,800 cars per year.

“UA is one of the most energy efficient campuses in the country,” said Leonard Byrd, project development manager at APS.

The project includes more than PV.

Thermal solar devices will heat pool water at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center and the Student Recreation Center, Banks said.

The solar devices will do away with the need for 50 percent of the natural gas energy used annually by UA to heat the 1.7 million gallons of water in the pools, Banks said.

PV panels installed on the roofs of the Second Street parking garage will help shade parked cars, and aid campus research efforts, he said.

The project is a step forward, but much remains to be done, Banks said.

The peak summer energy demand on campus is 25 to 30 megawatts, and the project adds 500 kilowatts, he said. A megawatt is 1,000 kilowatts.

“It’s still a baby step when you look at the overall demand,” Banks said

While APS will pay for and operate the solar project, Tucson Electric Power Co. will provide financial incentives in exchange for credits to meet Arizona Corporation Commission-mandated standards for renewable energy production, said Joe Salkowski, TEP spokesman.

The ACC requires that 2 percent of power sold by TEP and other Arizona utilities come from renewable sources this year. The requirement ramps up to 15 percent by 2025.

Byrd said TEP will provide 18 cents per metered kilowatt-hour generated by PV panels over 20 years.

TEP’s performance based incentive will pay $200,000 the first year of operation, with the figure falling slightly each year because of decreasing efficiencies in the solar generating system.

TEP’s incentive payments help APS provide UA power at a lower cost, Byrd said.

TEP’s customers benefit because the project uses the sun’s energy to offset power TEP would have had to generate using fossil fuels, Salkowski said.

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GLOSSARY

Watt, kilowatt and megawatt are measures of electrical power:

• A kilowatt is 1,000 watts.

• A megawatt is 1,000 kilowatts or 1 million watts.

• A kilowatt equals about 1.34 horsepower.

• A kilowatt-hour is the amount of energy expended if work is done at a rate of one kilowatt for one hour.

And look for pollen counts to drop in coming days

University of Arizona students Jacob Butler (left) and Lauren Slosky, both 20, enjoy ice cream at the UA Mall on Tuesday afternoon. Slosky was raising money and letting people know about Project Sunshine, a UA club that helps ill children at University Medical Center. "It's been very hot, but it hasn't stopped us from raising money," Slosky said.

Cooler temperatures and fewer allergens should make Tucson a nicer place.

The city topped out at 97 degrees Tuesday, and Tucson will likely not see 100 degrees for several weeks, said John Glueck, a meteorologist with the Tucson office of the National Weather Service.

Gila Bend topped 100 Tuesday, and lower deserts in Pima County were expected to be close to the century mark, Glueck said.

The agency has an official temperature station at Tucson International Airport but not in outlying areas, he said.

The record high for Tuesday was 104 degrees in 1989, a year well known for early hot temperatures, Glueck said.

The earliest Tucson has seen 100 degrees was April 19 of that year, he said, with May 26 being the average date for cracking 100 over the past 113 years.

Don’t expect to feel the century mark here soon.

“There is a significant cooling trend coming up,” he said. “This will bring an increase in wind later this week and cooler temperatures, which will be below normal the early part of next week.”

And allergies should be less of a problem, said Mark Sneller, owner of Aero Allergen Research Inc.

Tuesday results from an air sampling instrument near East 22nd Street and South Wilmot Road showed pollen at 68 grains per cubic meter, he said.

Mesquite recorded 25 grains per cubic meter, grasses were 13, paloverde registered 12 and there were small amounts of creosote, pecan, olive and pine and a trace of ragweed, he said.

Readings of 200 to 300 grains per cubic meter are typically needed before people notice allergy problems, Sneller said.

Some local areas could see counts up to 10 times higher than at the test site, he said.

Dry weather makes allergy complaints rise. Moist respiratory systems can better handle allergens, Sneller said.

“In a general sense, the worst is over for the season. We will still have traces of this or that,” he said.

“The next big adventure in pollen and mold will be in August and September, but it all depends on the rainfall,” he said.

The University of Arizona will partner with the city of Tucson, Pima County and local businesses for one of the largest Earth Day celebrations ever held on campus.

Events on Wednesday include:

• Spotlight Conversation on Climate Action, 8 a.m. to noon in the Student Union Memorial Center Grand Ballroom.

The public is invited to participate in one of five discussion groups on climate change. Contact: Nicole Urban-Lopez, 837-6934, nicole.urban-lopez@tucsonaz.gov; Tedra Fox, 740-8766, tedra.fox@pima.gov.

• “Carbon Down Arizona” block party, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Main Gate Square: Check out information booths and more at this student-run event. Contact: Lesley Ash, 850-0830, ash87@email.arizona.edu; Brendan Nuriddin, 245-6592, nuriddin@email.arizona.edu.

• Campus Sustainability Walking Tour, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: This campus tour highlights 11 stops with sustainability features. Contact: Glenn Schrader 621-2591, schrader@email.arizona.edu.

• UA Environmental Summit, 1 to 5 p.m. at SUMC Gallagher Theater, Student Union Memorial Center, 1303 E. University Blvd. More than 35 UA faculty members will share results of cutting-edge environmental research. Contact: Lou Regalado 792-8712, regalado@email.arizona.edu

• “Planet Earth” screenings, 7 p.m. at Gallagher Theater. The public is invited to watch three episodes from the series. Contact: Liz Zavodsky, 626-9179, zavodsky@life.arizona.edu.

Joey Martinez, a vector control specialist with the Yuma County Department of Public Health, checks for mosquito larvae in a green pool at a foreclosed home.

YUMA – Joey Martinez steps around an overgrown bougainvillaea bush to scoop a cupful of water from a green swimming pool. Several dozen mosquito larvae squirming inside suggest a job well done.

“When I first showed up here two weeks ago, this dipper would have had 10 times as many larvae in there,” said Martinez, a vector control specialist with the Yuma County Department of Public Health.

The light oil Martinez spread over the top of the pool suffocated most of the bugs, while the growth inhibitor he added to the water will ensure that survivors will be too crippled to live long, let alone bite people and potentially spread the West Nile virus.

Micki Bowman called the county after noticing insects coming from this vacant home next door.

A look over the fence showed that the pool had turned black, a problem she blamed on those who foreclosed on the property.

“It just isn’t fair,” she said. “If they’re going to take away somebody’s home, I think they should come and maintain it until they can sell it again.”

Yuma County’s three-person vector control staff is typically busy at this time of year dealing with mosquitoes where they traditionally breed.

But the foreclosure crisis also has officials here and elsewhere scrambling to deal with water in swimming pools, tires, trash cans and other items at vacant homes.

“We never really had as many pools that were turning green,” said Brian O’Green, environmental health manager for the Yuma County Department of Public Health. “With the economy, the numbers have increased dramatically in the last couple years.”

Yuma County is treating three to four green pools a day, continuing an increase that began in the past two years, O’Green said. Before that, his department usually treated about 10 pools in a year.

An increase in Tucson-area mosquito reports is likely linked to green pools, said Patti Woodcock, Pima County Health Department spokeswoman.

“From Jan. 1 to March 31 this year we received 50 complaints, compared with 34 last year for the same time period,” Woodcock said. “That is a 47 percent increase in the number of complaints.”

She said Pima County keeps statistics on total mosquito complaints coming from area residents but does not break out the individual sources of the pests, like pools, washes or other sources of standing water.

“Anecdotally we know there are more green pools, but we don’t know exactly how many there are,” she said.

Foreclosed or abandoned homes are more likely to have pools that breed mosquito larvae, Woodcock said.

Pima County officials can treat pools only with the property owner’s permission, she said.

“If we don’t have that permission we have to work through the bank, title company or whoever has responsibility for the property,” she said.

Pima County uses a product called Mosquito Dunks, which are small brown cakes that release larvae-killing bacteria into the water.

The cakes clear out mosquito larvae but not the green water in the pools, she said.

Pima County has seen no West Nile virus cases this year, Woodcock said.

Maricopa County’s population, pools and foreclosures make it the state’s hot spot for green pools. Officials there have received 600 more complaints than they’d received at this point last year.

Pinal County has seen complaints of green pools increase from a total of 30 a couple years ago to an average of seven per week, said Joe Pyritz, a county public information officer.

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West Nile advice

Green pools are just one challenge officials face in controlling mosquito breeding and curbing the spread of the West Nile virus. In addition to reporting green pools, the Arizona Department of Health Services offers these suggestions:

• Eliminate standing water by checking for cans, bottles, jars, buckets, old tires, drums and other containers that can contain water.

• Change water in flower vases, birdbaths, planters and animal watering pans at least twice a week.

• Repair leaky pipes and outside faucets and move air conditioner drain hoses.

• Report mosquito breeding problems to your local environmental health office.

The executive director of the Sonoran Environmental Research Institute won an Environmental Protection Agency award for her efforts to reduce toxic emissions in predominantly low income and minority neighborhoods in South Tucson.

Ann Marie Wolf was among 40 individuals and groups from Arizona, California, Nevada, Hawaii and Pacific islands to receive the award for outstanding achievement in protecting the environment, according to EPA.

Wolf headed a Community for a Renewed Environment program that saw area auto body repair businesses dramatically reduce the use of solvents.

The Tucson Audubon Society is looking for birders to help raise money for the organization this month through its Birdathon, according to a news release.

“Birdathon is similar to a charity walkathon where walkers earn donations for numbers of miles walked. Instead we count birds,” said Chris Harrison of the Audubon Society, who organized the event.

Birdwatchers will gather in teams from now until May 10 to count bird species in specified areas. Donations will be raised through pledges of money for each species spotted or a flat donation.

Birders can create their own teams or join teams organized by the Audubon Society, the news release said.

For more information, see the Audubon Society Web site at www.tucsonaudubon.org or call or e-mail Harrison at 629-0757 or charrison@tucsonaudubon.org.

Even lesser periods of dryness will do more damage

University of Arizona researcher Henry Adams prepares a mature piñon from New Mexico for transplanting inside Biosphere 2, shown in the background.

A slight increase in temperature could see drought-stricken trees die five times faster than they do now, a University of Arizona researcher says.

Scientists were able for the first time to isolate the impact of increased heat on mature piñon mortality by using the controlled environment in UA’s Biosphere 2, said Henry Adams, lead author of a paper that will appear this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Drought killed at a faster rate piñon trees kept in an environment warmer than normal ambient temperature by 4 degrees centigrade – about 7 degrees Fahrenheit.

“The cooler trees lasted 28 percent longer,” said Adams, a doctoral student in ecology and evolutionary biology at UA. “All the warmer trees died before any of the cooler trees.”

Trees subjected to hotter drought conditions died in 18 weeks compared with 25 weeks for trees living in cooler drought conditions, he said.

A control group of trees watered normally survived at both temperatures, he said.

The effects of higher temperatures mean that lesser droughts, which occur with greater frequency than major droughts, will be deadly if temperatures increase, he said.

When researchers extrapolated the results using the region’s 100-year historical drought record, it showed that widespread piñon die-offs will occur five times faster than now based on anticipated temperature increases, Adams said.

Scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have projected temperature increases of 3 to 5 degrees centigrade by 2100, he said.

Historical records from severe Southwestern droughts in the 1950s and earlier this decade showed that tree mortality was higher in a lesser drought with higher temperatures, said David Breshears, a UA professor of natural resources and the study co-investigator.

But researchers could not accurately say what impact higher temperatures had on tree mortality until this latest study led by Adams, Breshears said.

“What we’ve done is isolate the effect of temperature alone, and shown that this species is very sensitive to temperature,” Breshears said. “It is warmer in the future by 4 degrees centigrade you won’t need as long a drought to kill the trees.”

The study could show piñons are akin to canaries in coal mines, warning of deadly threats to a variety of species of trees and vegetation, Breshears said.

“I think it’s going to raise concerns of how big and vast the changes from increased temperature and drought are going to be,” he said. “In the Southwest, we’re going to have more drought and more frequent drought.”

Piñons try to protect themselves from drought by waiting it out, Adams said.

“They simply close their pores to not let water out so they are not losing water,” Adams said. “But they aren’t able to take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere needed to photosynthesize.

“If the drought goes on long enough, they run out of stored energy from photosynthesis and die,” he said. “At higher temperatures, they run out of stored energy faster and die sooner.”

The trees used in the two-year study came from near Las Vegas, N.M., Adams said. They were about 6 feet tall and 20 to 30 years old, he said.

The next step in research has begun near Flagstaff, Adams said.

“We’ll try to re-create what we did inside outside,” he said. “We’ll get accurate mortality rates in field conditions.”

The pines have been transplanted on the north side of the San Francisco Peaks to get a look at how heat affects drought-stricken trees in a more natural environment.

Trees have been planted at two levels – one 400 meters higher in elevation – to give a temperature difference of 4 degrees centigrade, he said.

The ground surrounding test trees will be covered with tarps to ensure drought conditions, he said.

Plans are in the works, said Adams, to study the heat effect on drought mortality on different species of trees inside Biosphere 2 near Oracle.

University of Arizona researcher Henry Adams explains his tree experiment to visitors at the Biosphere 2 glass-enclosed laboratory. The controlled environment allowed the testing of trees' mortality rates at varied temperatures.

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Tours, et cetera

• Biosphere offers tours throughout the day. The admission desk will provide tour times and start locations, according to Biosphere 2′s Web site.

• Admission: $20 general, $18 for seniors, military members, students and AAA members, $13 for children 6 to 12; free for children under 6.

• Half of the fee supports research and is tax deductible.

• Web site: www.b2science.org

The habitat conservation plan for 20,000 acres of Tucson-owned land in Avra Valley is open for public comment.

An open house is scheduled for 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday in the Javelina Room of Ryan Airfield, 9700 W. Ajo Way.

The plan is intended to ensure that the water supply and renewable energy projects the city has planned for the parcel will not endanger vulnerable plants and animals. The land provides habitat for the endangered lesser long-nosed bat, among other species.

The comment period closes May 18.

For more information, go to www.tucsonaz.ov/ocsd/hcp.