Lauren Gilger/KJZZ

Melanie Tluczek is the director of science and education for the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy.

It’s been a record hot summer in the Southwest and across the globe. In the Phoenix area, it's taken a toll on everything from air conditioning bills, to the people who work and live outside, to the desert fauna and flora.

The Sonoran desert’s iconic saguaros are falling over from the heat, and now there's trees with scorched leaves, black burn marks on succulents and shriveled up bushes all over the city.

The Show spoke with Melanie Tluczek, the director of science and education at the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy in north Scottsdale, to find out what’s happening and why.

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