In a bid to steel residents against the scorching temperatures that routinely besiege Tucson, the city, in concert with Pima County, is kicking off Heat Awareness Week. The weeklong campaign, starting the second week of May, is designed to arm folks with information crucial to combat the deadly ramifications of the region's increasingly intense heat waves.

As part of the initiative, officials are looking to quickly bolster knowledge about the perils of extreme heat, which has been shown to quickly rack up a body count, particularly among the most defenseless -- the youth, the elderly, and those without shelter. "The City of Tucson is actively drafting a heat protection ordinance, a heat action roadmap, and upgrading infrastructure to prevent heat illnesses and provide heat relief for all residents and City workers," Tucson Mayor Regina Romero proclaimed in a statement. According to the statement, these preemptive moves are gravitating toward a future ready to tackle the harrowing tide of climate change.

Mayor Romero is hardly playing it coy about the sweltering reality facing Tucson -- distinguished as one of the fastest-warming cities in the U.S. The campaign is part and parcel of a wider plan which includes crafting legislation poised to shield the public against the heat's onslaught.

As the mercury continues to unabashedly climb, Tucson and Pima County are gearing up to collectively draft an ordinance and a comprehensive response strategy, one that aims to shield every single resident and City worker from heat-related afflictions. For more information on the Heat Awareness Week and the forthcoming plans, residents are encouraged to tune into Mayoral and Council agendas, with live streams available for those who prefer to digest their news digitally.

With climate data pinpointing Tucson as a literal hotspot for high temperature hazards, the city's initiative sends a clear signal — that the time has come to not only acknowledge but also robustly react to the dangerous dance of extreme weather patterns, ensuring that future generations have the means to not only survive, but thrive.