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Most of the world equates summer with carefree times spent outdoors in warm, breezy weather. But here in Phoenix, you just might be feeling sensory overload. And there’s good reason. According to research done by the American Psychological Institute in 2024, heat waves can affect our hydration levels and sleep patterns, which can have an impact on our moods, behaviors, and cognition.
The heat can also affect our five senses. Our skin is at risk of sunburn, our noses and mouths are drier, our eyes strain in brighter light, and dehydration and fatigue can have an impact on auditory processing.
If only our senses could adapt to climate.
In order to cope with their own environments, plants and animals have adapted highly specific sensory tools to survive. Elephants can detect low-frequency sounds and slight changes in atmospheric pressure to sense storms or natural disasters before they arrive. Bees can detect the planet’s magnetic field, a sort of internal weather-proof compass, for migrating long distances. And — hold your tongue — catfish are covered in hundreds of thousands of tastebuds that allow them to taste their way through murky water.
While we’re waiting to grow scales or additional sweat glands, I recommend seeing good art in a cool museum or nearby airport (Valley artist Carolyn Lavender’s animal portraits are on view in Terminal 4 and Steven Yazzie and Erika Lynne Hanson’s exploration of traditional indigenous craft, technology, and cosmology is up at SMoCA), finding a cold plunge, supporting your local paleta vendor, or finding a climate-controlled place to crack open a book (more on that later).
But first, a few stories from The Show you don’t want to miss …
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