Voices: As Utah summers grow hotter, I found a way to fight for my family’s future

When I left Phoenix for Salt Lake City, I thought I was escaping the worst of the heat. I pictured breathing in crisp mountain air on summer hikes. Instead, I find myself battling oppressive heat all the same.

But I didn’t think they’d be this hot. Even in June, by 7 a.m., the sun is already high and temps are climbing into the 90s. I strap my son Lukas into the stroller and head out with my coffee. Ten minutes in, I’m sweating. Lukas babbles, but even he grows quiet as the heat settles over us. By the time we’re home, my hair sticks to my neck, and Lukas’s cheeks are red. I can’t help but wonder: Was it always like this?

A few decades ago, typical summer highs in Salt Lake City hovered in the upper 80s. Now, summers keep setting records, with July and August averaging in the high 80s and 90s. Triple-digit days are becoming more common. What once felt like rare heat waves now defines our summers, and this is true around the world.

The United Kingdom has seen temperatures pass 100°F, melting roads. In Athens, the Acropolis has had to close during peak hours due to unbearable heat. In China, prolonged heat waves are drying up rivers that millions rely on for drinking water and farming. In India, heat waves are triggering water shortages and health emergencies.

Back home from our walk, Lukas and I drink some ice water. Then he tugs at my hand, pointing at the door. He already wants to go back outside. He doesn’t understand why we can’t be outside all day. I lift him up, pressing my forehead to his, both of us still flushed. “It’s too hot, baby. Later, when the backyard’s in the shade.”

There are many reasons why Salt Lake City is getting hotter. Climate change has driven global temperatures higher, making heat waves more frequent and severe. Urban expansion (like the increase of roads and parking lots) traps heat, making “heat islands” in Salt Lake City 8°F degrees hotter compared to rural areas in the state. And the Great Salt Lake, which once helped regulate weather, is shrinking, which is worsening heat, threatening air quality and endangering animals.

But there’s still hope. I joined local conservation groups and lobbied with them this year. I want my son to grow up breathing in clean air and bearable summers.

Lobbying always felt like something other people did; people who understand politics and are confident public speakers. But I promised myself this year that I would find new ways to take action. So on a cold Thursday in January, I walked into the Capitol with Grow the Flow, a non-profit organization working to save the Great Salt Lake through advocacy and policy change.

Lobbying at the local level isn’t as formal as I thought it would be. It’s not grand speeches or high-stakes debates. To get in front of our assigned legislators, we sent a quick text to the legislator’s intern and asked them if their legislator had a few minutes to step off the floor where the bills were currently being debated and voted on. We then had brief but meaningful hallway conversations with them.

The walls were lined with portraits of past legislators, foreboding men in fancy suits. I couldn’t help but wonder if my voice would matter. What did I know about budgets, water rights or legislation? But then I remembered I didn’t have to be an expert, just a concerned citizen who wants clean air and cooler summers for her son.

We lobbied for a series of bills aimed at restoring water to the Great Salt Lake. These included proposals to fund agricultural water optimization that helps farmers upgrade irrigation systems for better efficiency. Keeping more water in the lake helps reduce toxic dust from the exposed lakebed, supports its fragile ecosystem, and contributes to regional temperature stability. While the cooling effect is modest and localized, these policy changes are a critical step toward summers less extreme.

Flashback to our hot summer day, Lukas wakes up from his nap and runs in circles in the living room. I know this feeling. It’s the same one I had in Phoenix, staring out the window, waiting for the outdoors to be bearable again. Eventually, we venture outside despite the heat.

I wasn’t expecting it to be this hot. But it is. And now, the real question isn’t just how we adapt but how hard we will fight before it gets even worse. I look at Lukas, his loud, stomping runs echoing throughout the house, and I know that this fight for the planet and a sustainable future is one worth fighting for.

Helena “Ellie” Huizenga is a writer who is happiest with a book or on a mountain trail. Stay updated on her writing and sustainable parenting journey by subscribing to her newsletter, The Green Pen.

The Salt Lake Tribune is committed to creating a space where Utahns can share ideas, perspectives and solutions that move our state forward. We rely on your insight to do this. Find out how to share your opinion here, and email us at voices@sltrib.com.