Phoenix is already one of the hottest cities in the United States, with well over 100 days a year seeing temperatures at or above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. And it’s getting hotter — along with some other large urban areas around the country — due to global climate change and the urban heat island effect. Ariane Middel, an assistant professor in the Fulton Schools and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, is among urban climate researchers using the city as a living laboratory to explore strategies for warming cities to adapt to the meteorological changes and reduce the impacts of the rising heat.