The world said goodbye to its beloved Dolly Parton this week. Why do I bring this up, you might ask? Well besides being well known for her voice, big hair and charming personality, she was also recognized for her devotion to the natural world. Keep reading for more on that in a bit.
Meanwhile, welcome to Climate Point, a weekly roundup of some of the latest news about climate change, the environment, energy and science. I’m Dinah Voyles Pulver, a national correspondent for USA TODAY who might have wished on more than one occasion that I could be a little more like Dolly.
River of mud with boulders ‘as big as houses’ hits Nepal
Scientists are thinking a massive glacier collapse likely caused an avalanche that sent a horrifying slurry of muddy water and rock hurtling more than 130 miles along a Himalayan river system, from the Tibet region of China through Nepal and into India. The debris obliterated buildings and bridges, sweeping people, cars and houses away. At least 579 people have died and more than 1,900 were still missing on Aug. 28.
While emergency crews searched frantically for the missing and the dead, scientists raced to assess the risk of even more flooding and are investigating what caused the explosion of debris.
Several scientists told USA TODAY that a number of factors might have triggered the avalanche, which may have been either directly or indirectly influenced by climate change in the region. Experts on mountains and glaciers in the Himalayas say the high mountain range is among the locations warming fastest around the globe.
Super El Niño?
Extreme? Intense? Historic? El Niño’s presence in the Pacific Ocean is wielding a powerful influence already around the globe, breaking temperature records and amazing scientists. But should it be called a super event? That depends on who you ask.
In one new study, researchers conclude that climate change already is having a marked impact on El Niño but that too is still being debated among scientists. Coral reefs in the Galápagos provide records over a span of 1,000 years that show “the big El Niño events of the last 40 years are not normal in the context of the last thousand years,” said lead author Julia Cole, professor and chair of the University of Michigan department of earth and environmental sciences, in a statement.
While El Niño is helping to create an active tropical storm and hurricane season in the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic scene has been much less active, thanks to the shearing winds the El Niño has stirred up in the western Atlantic.
In a coincidence that must have had astronomical odds, a Tropical Storm Dolly formed in the Atlantic just two days after the world learned the beloved Dolly Parton had died. The name had been on the National Hurricane Center’s rotating list since the early 1990s.
The tropical storm failed to live up to Parton’s enduring reputation and fame, quickly dissipating under the brutal wind shear by the next day. However, forecasters warn there’s a slim chance that Dolly the storm could form again.
Electrical outages leave residents feeling powerless
Lingering power outages have been a frustration across the country in recent weeks. That includes lingering outages across Hawaii’s Big Island after Hurricane Lala’s high winds and up to three feet of rain. But in far less remote Gary, Indiana – only about 30 miles from Chicago – both the governor and the city’s mayor voiced anger that thousands remained without electricity for up to two weeks after a storm.
Critter corner
A butterfly nearing global extinction, the Poweshiek skipperling, is getting new hope in Michigan, the Detroit Free Press reported. The once abundant butterfly was listed as endangered in 2014, its numbers declining because of habitat loss and pesticides. By 2022, only nine of the butterflies were counted in the wild across the U.S. But a captive breeding program at the Minnesota Zoo and John Ball Zoo is raising thousands of butterflies for reintroduction.
But in Oregon, a new study found the spotted owl is functionally extinct across large swaths of the Pacific Northwest, the Salem Statesman Journal explained. The number of owls is “so low that they no longer play a meaningful ecological role or cannot reproduce enough to persist,” the study concluded.
The invasive Asian swamp eel is expanding its territory in the Florida Everglades, the Palm Beach Post revealed in an exclusive story. The voracious eel is “a more dangerous and devastating predator” in some ways than the Burmese pythons plaguing the state, said Florida International University Associate Professor and aquatic ecologist Nathan Dorn.
Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that invasive carp have been found near Lake Michigan, while a project to keep the fish out of the lake has been stalled by the Trump administration.
Dolly, a champion for nature and the Smoky Mountains
Now, for more about Dolly and Mother Nature, news stories and social media posts this week recounted her remarks, songs and actions devoted to the natural world.
In a Facebook post, the Wilderness Society recalled a famous quote once featured in National Geographic. “We’re just mistreating Mother Nature—that’s like being ugly to your mama. We need to take better care of the things that God gave us freely,” she said. National Geographic shared a short video.
“Dolly spoke and sang about the land that raised her with a deep sense of love and belonging,” wrote the Department of Environment and Conservation in her native Tennessee. “The Smokies were part of her story, their mountains, forests and natural beauty inspiring her music and shaping the way she shared Tennessee with the world.”
In “Early Morning Breeze,” in 1971, she sang of rainbow-colored flowers, kissed with early morning sun and drops of morning dew lingering on iris. Twenty years later she co-established the Eagle Mountain Sanctuary with the American Eagle Foundation.
Read on for more news, including the latest on the controversial multi-state debate over the Colorado River’s water. If someone forwarded you this newsletter and you’d like to read it every week, we invite you to subscribe.