World

A hiker swept away in flash floods and torrential rain was still missing Monday as a weekend of storms forced hundreds to evacuate in the latest weather disasters to hit national parks in the United States.

Heavy rains were also causing havoc in parts of Texas on Monday as forecasters predicted more precipitation throughout the southern part of the country for the rest of the week.

Jetal Agnihotri, who park officials said they were still searching for Monday, was one of a number of hikers hit by surging waters Friday when flash floods tore through an area of Zion National Park in Utah called the Narrows, known for red rock cliffs and towering canyons.

One injured hiker was carried hundreds of yards (meters) downstream by the sudden inundation, while others were left stranded until rangers reached them, the National Park Service said.

In New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns National Park, around 200 people had to be evacuated after being trapped for several hours by rising waters.

No one was injured in that incident.

The flash flooding came after heavy rains pummeled the drought-hit southwest, with several inches (centimeters) falling in a short space of time.

The downtown area of Moab, Utah was left under three feet of water by the rains, the New York Times quoted a city spokeswoman as saying.

“We had water that came through in a huge rush along with lots of debris and some full-sized trees,” Lisa Church said, adding the river had overflowed its banks in three places.

Elsewhere, footage showed children in Arizona being rescued from a school bus stranded by rising waters.

The National Weather Service (NWS) said northern Texas was expected to be walloped this week with up to seven inches of rain, with parts of the state of Mississippi also expected to be affected.

“Much of this rainfall will be beneficial and welcome due to the effects of an ongoing drought,” the agency said.

“But the potential still exists for instances of flash flooding in urban areas and places with poor drainage.”

Flash flood warnings were in effect around Dallas on Monday, with forecasters predicting difficult conditions on the roads, and videos showed vehicles becoming submerged in floodwaters while driving in the city overnight.

“Turn around, don’t drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles. Be aware of your surroundings and do not drive on flooded roads,” the NWS said.

– Worsening drought –

The western United States is more than 20 years into a painful drought that has left rivers and reservoirs badly depleted, and the countryside tinder-dry.

But sudden, intense downpours are often unhelpful.

“If the water all comes down over a very quick period of time, it’ll run off,” Chris Rasmussen, an NWS meteorologist in Tucson, Arizona, told AFP last week.

“It doesn’t get a chance to really soak into the ground, as you would like to see.

“It’s always nicer to have good, moderate amount of rains over a long period of time.”

Human activity, specifically the runaway use of fossil fuels over the last century, has caused the Earth’s average temperature to rise.

This has altered weather patterns, worsening droughts in some parts of the world, and intensifying storms in other areas.

Much of Europe has baked under an intense heatwave over the last few months, with record-low rainfall emptying rivers and leaving the countryside vulnerable to wildfire.

Chinese authorities said Monday they were powering down key landmarks to save energy as faltering rivers send hydroelectric plants dark.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Canada to firm up access to new energy supplies as his country moves to quickly end its reliance on Russian oil and gas.

At a joint news conference in Montreal on the first full day of his three-day visit, Scholz said Germany is rushing construction of liquid natural gas (LNG) ports infrastructure and pipelines to boost imports and is reaching out to other nations, like Canada, to increase their output.

Germany will need more liquid natural gas during its energy transition, he said, adding: “It is indispensable because we want to move away from our dependency of Russian gas supplies.”

Scholz is also eyeing future Canadian hydrogen exports. On Tuesday the two leaders, along with a sizeable business delegation, are to tour a proposed site in Newfoundland province for hydrogen production.

Trudeau touted Canada as “a reliable supplier of the clean energy that a net-zero (emissions) world requires.”

But he downplayed the likelihood of direct LNG shipments from Canada to Germany, citing the long distance from Western Canada gas fields to Atlantic ports for shipping overseas.

“We’re exploring ways to see if it makes sense to export LNG, and if there’s a business case for it to export (LNG) directly to Europe,” Trudeau told reporters.

In the meantime, he and Scholz hinted at a major hydrogen deal to be announced on Tuesday.

“We’re moving forward on a range of investments around hydrogen and look forward to speaking about that more tomorrow,” Trudeau said.

Scholz explained that Germany has bet on hydrogen to help it get to a net-zero economy, and said “Canada will play a tremendously important role in developing green hydrogen in the future.”

“It can become one of the big powers in supplying green hydrogen to many industrialized nations,” he said, referring to the use of renewables such as wind power to make hydrogen.

The two leaders are also scheduled to discuss business opportunities in the automotive and critical minerals mining sectors, and support for Ukraine, including its eventual post-war reconstruction.

Dog owners know the pure joy of returning home from a long trip to be greeted by their tail-wagging, uncontrollably jumping, face-licking companion.

But those ecstatic canines might be shedding more than just fur on your clothes — they might also be tearing-up, according to a new study published Monday in the journal Current Biology.

“We had never heard of the discovery that animals shed tears in joyful situations, such as reuniting with their owners,” said Takefumi Kikusui, one of authors of the study, which he called a possible “world first.”

The scientists measured the amount of tears in the dogs’ eyes with the widely-used Schirmer test, which consists of placing a specialized strip under the eyelids. For a baseline reading, they performed the test on dogs during a normal interaction with their owner.

When dogs were reunited with their owners after five to seven hours of separation, they “significantly” increased tear production in the ensuing five minutes, the researchers found.

They also discovered that the dogs’ volume of tears were higher when they reunited with their owner versus other people the dog is familiar with.

According to the researchers, this reaction to tear up is likely linked to the release of oxytocin, nicknamed the “love hormone,” due to its connection with bond-building.

The scientists then sought to test whether the tears might have an emotional impact on the owners. To do so, they asked the owners to rank various photos of their dogs with and without artificial tears by how much they wanted to care for them.

“The dog photos with artificial tears were ranked significantly higher than the normal tearless dog photos,” the Japanese research team wrote.

“It is possible that the dogs that show teary eyes during interaction with the owner would be cared for by the owner more,” hypothesized Kikusui.

In humans, the authors note, infants share their negative feelings by crying, which leads to more care-giving by the parents.

Domesticated by humans like no other animal, dogs have developed specific communication skills over time. Eye contact has been shown to play a role in forming the relationship between a dog and its owner.

In future studies, the researchers would like to test whether dogs similarly produce tears when they meet other canine pals.

Kim Kardashian and celebrity neighbors including Sylvester Stallone have been handed warnings for repeatedly flouting water restrictions at their homes in drought-hit California, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

Strict water limits — imposed as the western United States endures its 23rd successive year of drought, worsened by human-caused climate change — are in place across swathes of southern California, including the affluent neighborhoods of Calabasas and Hidden Hills.

But more than 2,000 residents of the two glitzy enclaves north of Los Angeles, known for their sprawling green lawns and giant swimming pools, are continuing to breach the limits, often by eye-watering amounts.

Celebrity reality stars Kim and Kourtney Kardashian were among repeat offenders in June, the newspaper reported, citing notices obtained via a Public Records Act request.

A Hidden Hills home and adjacent lot owned by a trust linked to Kim Kardashian exceeded their water allowance by a combined 232,000 gallons (878,000 liters) for the month, while her sister Kourtney’s property in nearby Calabasas was around 100,000 gallons in excess.

“Rocky” star Stallone’s $18-million Hidden Hills property exceeded its June limits by 230,000 gallons, or 533 percent, having been 195,000 gallons over the limit the previous month, it said.

Repeat offenders are initially fined hundreds of dollars, but deep-pocketed homeowners who are still not dissuaded can eventually have their supplies physically reduced to a trickle.

Water authorities in Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, covering Calabasas and Hidden Hills, have already installed metal flow restrictor devices at around 20 properties’ main shutoff valves, the newspaper reported.

A representative for the Kardashians did not immediately respond to AFP request for comment.

Stallone’s lawyer told the Times that its report “could mischaracterize and misrepresent the situation” at a property sustaining around 500 mature trees, saying his clients had “proactively” installed a drip irrigation system and let certain lawns die.

Others named in the newspaper’s investigation included comedian Kevin Hart and former NBA basketball star Dwyane Wade.

Famous for its rows of palm trees, Los Angeles has also traditionally been known for its lush, green lawns, often maintained with automatic sprinklers.

Residents are increasingly replacing their thirsty lawns with plants native to this desert region, and Las Virgenes spokesman Mike McNutt said he hoped celebrities could set a positive example.

“People listen to you, people look at you, people value what you do,” he said.

“We need you to step up to the plate, to be examples and to be leaders so that other people will follow.”