Scorching Tucson bucks US trend to put climate justice at centre of plans

Key goals include powering city buildings on renewables and curbing urban sprawl

It was another scorching summer this year in Tucson, Arizona, the second hottest city in the United States, where even plants adapted to the desert's harsh conditions wilted amid record-breaking temperatures and scant rainfall.

This summer was the state's hottest on record, and in August the city clocked four days that were 43C (110F) or hotter and 26 that were over 37C (99F). Tucson temperatures are on average 2.5C (4.5F) warmer now than in 1970, a greater increase than in most other American cities, according to analysis of weather data by Climate Central.