What's up with the Weather? ☀️
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Season 2: Episode 123 Description
In today's episode: 🌧️ The weather has been wild recently, so we're here with an update on climate change. 🪐 Joining us in the studio is our friend, Arionne Nettles, from the ‘Is That True?’ podcast to clear up what's happening on planets beyond Earth. ✔️ Tessa Tidbit: 90% of the plastic we use ends up in landfills, but there's a new solution to this problem. And, test your chocolate ice cream knowledge on today's Trivia on the Ten. ✅
Sources
Death toll rises in wake of Hurricane Agatha’s historic landfall in Mexico | AccuWeather
NOAA predicts as many as 6 major Atlantic hurricanes in 2022 (axios.com)
5 good news stories about climate change (mic.com)
This new enzyme could break down plastic in just hours (mic.com)
National Chocolate Ice Cream Day (June 7th) – Days Of The Year
Origin of a Dish: Chocolate Ice Cream « Four Pounds Flour
This is the most popular ice cream flavor among Americans | YouGov
Links
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TRANSCRIPT:
Ryan Willard 0:01
Is it true that cats have nine lives? Is it true that Mars once had rivers and oceans? Is it true that...
Bethany Van Delft 0:07
What you're doing Ryan?
Ryan Willard 0:09
Hey, Arionne from the podcast, 'Is That True? is on her way here. So, I'm getting my questions ready.
Bethany Van Delft 0:14
I think she takes questions from kids, not adults.
Ryan Willard 0:18
Wait, seriously. I've already come up with 749 questions for her. What's next? Am I not allowed to eat Happy Meals?
Bethany Van Delft 0:25
Sorry, Ryan, also not for adults. But, adults and kids do have a lot of questions about the weather and what's going on with the climate lately. So today, we're going to check in on the climate and get some of our questions answered. I'm Bethany Van Delft. It's Tuesday, June 7th, and this is the Ten News.
Various Voices 0:45
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Bethany Van Delft 0:53
We know climate change is on a lot of your minds. And the past few weeks have been full of news about heat waves and all sorts of weird weather.
Ryan Willard 1:02
It really has Bethany, I have some questions that I need to answer. Question number 325. What is up with all the hurricanes?
Bethany Van Delft 1:11
Well, hurricane season officially started on June 1st, and we've already seen the first named storm. Last week even before the official start, Hurricane Agatha formed in the Pacific and made landfall in Mexico. It's the strongest hurricane ever to hit the Pacific Coast in May. And the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is the US government authority on tropical storms and hurricanes says this year's hurricane season is going to be bad. The agency's predicting that there could be 6 to 10 hurricanes, and somewhere between 14 to 21 named storms. That's no good. A usual season has seven hurricanes and 14 named storms. Oh, man.
Ryan Willard 1:56
Okay, question number 444. Will this crazy weather just keep happening?
Bethany Van Delft 2:01
Well, April saw an earlier-than-usual drought and wildfires in Alaska and the Southwest. Plus an unusually high number of tornadoes in the Midwest and South. New discoveries about our changing climate suggest that severe weather is going to keep happening. Okay, that's bad. The World Meteorological Organization or WMO is the UN's voice on weather, climate, and water. They gathered research from the UK, Spain, Germany, Australia, Canada, China, Japan, the US, and Scandinavia, they announced there's now a 5050 chance there will be 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter in the next five years bomber than 1.5 degrees is the lower end of the climate goal of the Paris Agreement. At that temperature, there will be damaging effects on the earth but humans will be able to survive. A change of three degrees Celsius would cause devastation to the earth.
Ryan Willard 2:57
Good gravy. Okay, last question. Is there anything to be happy about?
Bethany Van Delft 3:02
Yes, it's not all doom and gloom. There's some good climate news. The US Department of Energy is investing in carbon removal and plans to take 1 million tons of carbon out of the atmosphere each year. Excellent. Australia's new prime minister Anthony Albany is committed to climate action. And airlines are trying out used cooking oil as a new source of fuel, which means airports is smell like a giant box of French fries. You see now that you know what's happening here on Earth, what could be happening on other planets? We heard a rumor and our friend Arionne Nettles from the 'Is That True' podcast is stopping by to help us figure out if that rumor is fact or fiction. Welcome, Arionne.
Arionne Nettles 3:50
Thank you so much, Bethany. I'm excited to be here. Hi, I'm Arionne, today's fact is out of this world. Seriously, it's really that good.
Anaya 4:08
Hi, my name is Anaya Griffith I am eight years old and I'm from Oregon. Did you know that potatoes can grow on Mars?
Arionne Nettles 4:20
Potatoes on Mars? Wow. Anaya, I honestly have no idea. It's important to always get the most up-to-date information about space. So I looked for an expert who studies it. And I found the perfect person.
Lula 4:37
So hi, my name is Lula Sarahdacus and I'm a curator at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.
Arionne Nettles 4:47
So, of course, you are the perfect person to help us see if this fact is true. So, is it true that potatoes can grow on Mars?
Lula 4:59
Well, the short answer to that question is, yes. We should be able to under the right conditions, which actually have a lot to do with something called habitability.
Arionne Nettles 5:12
Oh, wow. So what does habitability need?
Lula 5:17
Research groups around the world are exploring this thing called habitability. We also study it here on Earth. And that means to what degree or extent can we inhabit other worlds, not just Mars, but the moon or other planets in the system, solar system, and even beyond. So in addition to how much oxygen or atmosphere exists on these other worlds, this would determine how much or little we can breathe, and the technology needed to help us breathe. But there's another really important aspect of habitability, which has to do with food and water. So if we started long-term colonies on Mars, we really couldn't bring enough food and water onto our spaceships because they just simply wouldn't last long enough. But if we could find ways to create food and water on these other worlds and make them sustainable, then that would make it much more likely that we would be able to not only travel there, but also create inhabitable colonies.
Arionne Nettles 6:27
Got it. So that is kind of what would need to happen so that we could live there. And so although we have not grown potatoes and Mars, we are trying to figure out how we could and we think that we could Yeah, absolutely.
Bethany Van Delft 6:48
Thanks for stopping by Arionne, you can check out 'Is That True', on all podcast platforms and Season 2 is coming soon. Tessa, got any good news about climate change?
Tessa Flannery 7:01
I sure do, Bethany. Scientists in Texas have discovered a tiny solution to a giant problem. 90% of the plastic we use ends up in landfills, and then waterways and the ocean harm marine life. But a newly mutated enzyme eats plastic. That's right. In as little as 24 hours the enzyme pet pace can break down plastics even at low temperatures. That's great news for sea creatures and the earth.
Bethany Van Delft 7:33
And now here to give us the news rundown is our head writer, Ryan Willard.
Ryan Willard 7:44
Thank you very much, Bethany. I'm Ryan. And here's your rundown. Russian forces have continued their invasion of Ukraine attacking Kyiv the capital of Ukraine for the first time in weeks, Russian ships launched five cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea and while one was destroyed by Ukraine air defenses the other four-hit infrastructure facilities north of Kyiv man Turkey has invented wind turbines that generate electricity from passing cars. Researchers at Istanbul Technical University teamed up with a tech firm Devesa tech to create a standing wind turbine with a solar panel on top that uses air currents from passing cars, which can generate one kilowatt of energy per hour. That means a single turbine along with a solar panel can produce enough electricity to power two Turkish households per day. A critically endangered red wolf pup was born at a zoo in Rhode Island. There are only an estimated 23 Red Wolves left in the wild and around 240 Red Wolves in US zoos and Sanctuaries, so a new pup being born is a big deal for the survival of the species. The unnamed red wolf pup was born on May 5th to its proud parents Diego and Brave and is the first red wolf pup to be born at the zoo since 2005. I'm Ryan Willard, and that's your rundown. Back to you, Bethany.
Bethany Van Delft 9:06
Lucky you, it's...
Various Voices 9:08
What, what, what's the big idea?
Bethany Van Delft 9:11
Trivia on the Ten. June 7th is National Chocolate Ice Cream Day. Can you guess when chocolate ice cream was first invented? Is it a) 1692, b) 1792, or c) 1892? Did you guess it? The answer is A. In Naples, Italy way back in 1692. A book of recipes explained how to make frozen hot chocolate. The first chocolate ice cream. Now it's America's favorite flavor. Doesn't feel like summer to me without ice cream. Hey, that reminds me Father's Day is coming up and we want your best dad jokes, call us and leave us a voice note at 877-TEN-NEWS or visit thetennews.com/contact. That's 877-T-E-N-N-E-W-S or visit thethennews.com/contact. That's all for today. But before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to the Ten News. Look out for our new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a coproduction of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News creative team is eating chocolate ice cream and includes Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Ryan Willard, Adam Barnard, and Tessa Flannery. Arionne Nettles from the 'Is That True' podcast contributed to this episode. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany Van Delft and thanks for listening to the Ten News. Ryan instead of a Happy Meal, how about some martian potato salad? Ryan? Ryan?
