Climate Point: Did fire kill 10% of giant sequoias? And Hoover Dam at record low

USA TODAY: Did fire kill 10% of giant sequoias? And Hoover Dam at record low

Thursday, June 3

The General Grant tree, the largest giant sequoia. Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, California USA.

Did fire kill 10% of giant sequoias? And Hoover Dam at record low

Plus: Cicadas invade Midwest, but climate change and deforestation are reducing their range

Welcome to Climate Point, your weekly guide to climate, energy and the environment. From Palm Springs, California, I'm Janet Wilson.

When I moved to crowded California from serene New England 20-plus years ago, what saved me was the trees. Specifically, the live oaks in Southern California's canyons and the sequoias in the national forest that bears their name. If you're a fan of trees too, this week brings some crushing news.

At least a tenth of the world's mature giant sequoias were destroyed by a single wildfire that tore through the southern Sierra Nevada late last year, according to a draft report by National Park Service scientists shared with Joshua Yeager of the Visalia Times-Delta.

The catastrophic discovery comes five months after firefighters contained the Castle Fire — which scorched 175,000 acres across the Sequoia National Park and Sequoia National Forest.

Between 7,500 and 10,000 monarchs perished, about 10% to 14% of the world's mature giant sequoia population, the study found. Researchers used satellite imagery and modeling from previous fires that burned old-growth groves to arrive at the figure.

"I cannot overemphasize how mind-blowing this is for all of us. These trees have lived for thousands of years. They've survived dozens of wildfires already," said Christy Brigham, chief of Resources Management and Science at Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks.

The consequences could be far-reaching. Redwood forests are among the world's most efficient at removing and storing carbon dioxide. The groves also provide critical habitat for native wildlife and help protect a watershed that farmers and communities rely on.

Here are some other stories that may be of interest:

MUST-READS

Icicles hang off the State Highway 195 sign on Feb. 18 in Killeen, Texas. Winter storm Uri brought historic cold weather and power outages to Texas.

Joe Raedle, Getty Images

True tally. The actual number of people killed by the disastrous winter storm and power outages that devastated Texas in February is likely four or five times higher than what the state says. The state says 151 perished, but a BuzzFeed News data analysis estimates 700 died — many of them medically vulnerable people whose ailments were exacerbated by the extreme conditions. The catastrophe trapped millions of people in freezing darkness, cut off access to running water, and overwhelmed emergency services for days.

Doubling up. There's now a 40% chance that within the next five years, Earth's annual average temperature will edge above a limit agreed to by world leaders, say top United Nations meteorologists. The 2015 Paris climate agreement set a target of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times. The chance of reaching that cap has roughly doubled compared to last year's predictions , reports Doyle Rice with USA Today.

WATER WOES

This March 26, 2019 photo shows the water level of the Colorado River, as seen from the Hoover Dam, Ariz.

Richard Vogel, AP

Mighty low. The Hoover Dam, a symbol of the modern West, is facing historic strains due to an epic water shortage, as Ian James with the Arizona Republic chronicles. The 700-foot dam has helped store Colorado River water since 1935, but reservoir levels are nearing their lowest point since Lake Mead was filled. The effects of years of severe drought and temperatures pushed higher by climate change are strikingly visible, where a growing "bathtub ring" of whitish minerals coats the rocky desert slopes.

Power struggle. One of the nation's top water district boards has chosen a new general manager — but the selection isn't yet final, and behind-the-scenes jockeying could determine whether Southern California's Metropolitan Water District turns the page on scandal and old-style infrastructure, or taps a veteran of western water wars who has also backed traditional piping of rural water to thirsty cities. Sammy Roth of the Los Angeles Times has the inside story.

POLITICAL CLIMATE

This undated photo shows caribou grazing inside the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP

Taking Refuge. The Biden administration on Tuesday suspended oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, targeting one of President Donald Trump's last environmental acts. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland ordered a new environmental review, a move that could spark a major legal battle. The Trump administration auctioned off drilling rights in the refuge's coastal plain — home to hundreds of thousands of migrating caribou and waterfowl as well as polar bears — two weeks before President Biden was sworn in.

The suspension comes after other Biden administration decisions that disappointed environmentalists, including defending a huge Trump-approved oil drilling project on Alaska's North Slope, per Juliet Eilperin and Joshua Partlow with the Washington Post.

Fault lines. With Trump out of office, old rifts in how to fight climate change are reopening. Biden officials favor emissions reductions that include technologies like carbon capture. Many activists oppose anything other than renewable energy sources and say sticking with any kind of fossil fuel production leaves poor, non-white communities stuck breathing dirty air. Marianne Lavelle with Inside Climate News fills us in.

Pay up, maybe. California's top oil regulator quietly fined an oil driller in downtown Los Angeles $1.5 million for continuing to use "bad" wells, two months after I reported for The Desert Sun and ProPublica on the risks there and the agency's overall lax enforcement. But the wells are still operating and the agency has a poor track record on collecting such fines.

HOT TAKES

Too darn hot. More than a third of heat deaths are tied to climate change.

Sky high. Oil prices hit a two-year plus high this week, after collapsing last year.

Not just trees. Wildfires disproportionately affect elderly and poor residents.

AND ANOTHER THING

A cicada tries to burst out of its nymph shell, Friday, May 21, 2021, in Lutherville-Timonium, Md.

Julio Cortez, AP

What's the buzz? As Brood X cicadas munch their way across the Midwest this week, the Indianapolis Star reports climate change and development will impact them too. The cicadas — some on 13-year cycles and others, such as Brood X, emerging every 17 years — spend most of their life underground sipping the sap of tree roots.

They come above ground for only a few weeks to mate before dying. But as trees fall victim to more heat, fires and chainsaws, the bug-eyed creatures will have less to feed on and fewer places to lay eggs. "Anything that threatens the forest will threaten cicadas," said one researcher.

That's it for now. Hug a tree this week, or take a good long look at one. For more climate, energy and environment news, follow me @janetwilson66. You can sign up to get Climate Point in your inbox for free here.