RENO — Across the Desert Southwest, leaders have been woefully unprepared for heat waves that are supercharged by climate change, leading to the deaths of thousands and widespread heat illness.

In Reno, ranked the country’s fastest-warming city six years in a row, officials acknowledge their response is in the early stages.

“There’s a lot of work ahead of us, and we don’t have all the answers,” said Brian Beffort, Washoe County’s sustainability manager. “I’m focused on trees because they check the most number of boxes: They clean the air. They prevent stormwater. They cool things off. … There’s a lot of planning that we need to do. But that’s not the only intervention that we need, right?”

Beffort was one of about 30 who attended the Nevada State Climate Office’s first-ever Northern Nev

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