IRL Climate Talks
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Season 2: Episode 30 Description
In today’s episode: ✈️ From the G20 Summit to the COP 26, world leaders are meeting to talk about climate change. 🌎 Hear what the different countries have agreed to do to help the planet. 📘Did you know that the Earth got a climate report card from the United Nations? 🌪️ Listen in for what is said about the future.🗞️ In the news: Big first in Boston and sand is having a moment. 🏜️ And test your desert knowledge in today's Trivia on the Ten. ✅
Sources for the episode
G20: what did world leaders agree at the summit in Rome? | G20 | The Guardian
COP26 As it happened: Biden anger at China-Russia no-shows - BBC News
COP26: World leaders promise to end deforestation by 2030 - BBC News
The U.N.’s Terrifying Climate Report | The New Yorker
A Major U.N. Report Warns Climate Change Is Accelerating : NPR
U.N. climate change report sounds 'code red for humanity' | Reuters
Michelle Wu is Boston's first woman and first person of color elected mayor : NPR
American Girl Dolls, Risk, sand make it to Toy Hall of Fame (apnews.com)
The desert chefs who cook with the sun - BBC Travel
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TRANSCRIPT:
Bethany Van Delft 0:02
What do forests and farts have in common? Both are part of the climate conversation, believe it or not. Today we'll find out what world leaders plan to do about climate change. I'm Bethany Van Delft. It's Tuesday, November 8th, and this is The Ten News.
Various voices 0:22
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Bethany Van Delft 0:30
Once a year, leaders from countries representing the world's biggest economies get together for a little chat called the G20. Summit. This year's summit held in Rome, Italy just ended. It was the first time since the start of the pandemic world leaders met in person. So, what did they talk about? We're listening. Well, they discussed taxes on big corporations, sharing COVID vaccines and financial health for developing countries. Leaders promised to vaccinate 40% of the world's population by the end of 2021 and 70% by summer 2022. They also agreed to place higher taxes on big corporations and pledged to send $100 billion to developing countries. Excellent. But the biggest thing on the agenda was the climate. Leaders at the summit agreed that its member nations, composed of 19 countries plus the European Union, which together account for 80% of the world's emissions, would end coal financing by the end of 2021. And make it a goal to contain global warming. But, critics say the group did not go far enough toward taking real action for the planet. Man. Enter the COP26 a whole other even bigger meeting of nations that happens in Glasgow, Scotland after the G20 Summit that was all about, wait for it, climate change. Nice. At the COP26, 100 nations agreed to work together to decrease methane emissions. What does that mean? Methane is a gas notoriously found in human and animal farts. Yeah, but it's also produced by factories and when it enters the atmosphere with other gases, it creates a greenhouse effect warming up the earth. So, by lowering the amount of methane, we can hopefully reduce climate change. Leaders also promised to end deforestation and pledged $14 billion to save forests. Forests are a big help at slowing down climate change but are regularly cut down to make way for farming, grazing, mining, and drilling. With this new worldwide agreement, 110 nations are working together to save forests. So, from the G20 to the COP26 to the C3B20, just kidding about that one, that's not one of them. I've just about had enough of you. We'll be keeping an eye on what the world's leaders are doing about climate change.
Bethany Van Delft 3:16
So, a lot happened at this year's G20. Summit and at the COP26 conference, the leaders of the world discuss concrete actions to stop climate change. But why is it important to stop climate change right now? This past summer, the United Nations, you know that group of 193 countries working together for peace, justice, and universal human rights,. They formed a special committee called the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, let's say IPCC. It's less of a mouthful. The IPCC is made up of scientists and governments all over the world, and they put together the biggest ever report on Earth's climate. That's right, the earth got a report card and thanks to humans, the grades are not looking good. Okay, that's bad. Ten'er, Rihanna is here to share the biggest news from the report.
Rhianna 4:11
Hi, I'm Rhianna, a seventh-grader in San Francisco. Today I'm sharing what we learned from the report. Well, the earth is heating up and that's causing big problems. The IPCC shows that many extreme weather events are happening today, like flooding, more frequent and stronger hurricanes, droughts, and severe wildfires. These are all caused by the warming of our planet. The overall temperature of the Earth has increased more in the last 50 years than any period in the past 2,000 years. The weather is getting extreme. The report included a best-case and worst-case scenario for what the earth will look like in 80 years when I'm a grandparent. In the best-case scenario, if countries work together to make changes and slow the temperature increases, the global temperature only goes up by 1.5 degrees Celsius over the next 80 yours. There would still be some extreme weather, but overall, the climate will pull back down. That's great. In the worst-case scenario, countries don't change anything. And the earth will warm up 4.4 degrees Celsius by 2100. Parts of the Earth would be uninhabitable for humans, meaning that there would be fewer places for humans to live safely. And that's not all. The oceans could rise up to 82 feet. So major cities like New York, Seattle, Miami, San Francisco, where I live and many others could end up underwater. Sounds pretty scary, but there is time for us to make changes and keep telling everyone how important it is to take care of our planet.
Bethany Van Delft 5:39
Thank you, Rihanna. And for any of you Ten'ers who want to read the whole report or other takeaways, you can find the link to the report in our show notes. Today's fun fact is an inspiring one. At the COP26 Conference, Prince William, the Queen of England's grandson announced the winners of his Earth Shot competition. The competition celebrates people who have developed new solutions to the climate crisis. One winner, 15-year-old Venetia Umashankar, invented a solar-powered cart for India's food vendors, which will improve air quality for millions of people. Now let's see what else is going on. History was made on election day, Michelle Wu became the first woman, the first person of color and the first Asian American to be elected mayor of Boston. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh elected Ed Gainey as the city's first black mayor, while New York City now has its second black Mayor Eric Adams. Way to go. American Girl dolls and the board game risk have made their way to the National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, New York. They were inducted along with sand, which the museum says might be the oldest toy in the world. Who doesn't love rolling around in the sand, whatever. Speaking of sand, scientists think that the glassy rocks in Chile's Atacama Desert may be the result of a comet explosion that happened 12,000 years ago. The reason is sand turns into glass at temperatures above 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. And that's hotter than most fires that happen here on Earth. Thankfully. And, now...
Various Voices 7:41
What, what, what's the big idea?
Bethany Van Delft 7:44
Trivia on The Ten. So, do you know how climate can affect how dry or wet a place is? How much do you know about the driest place on Earth? Deserts are notoriously dry with very little rainfall in the scorching sun all day long. Can you name the driest place on the planet? Is it a) the Sahara Desert b) the Atacama desert or c) the Sonoran Desert?
Bethany Van Delft 8:19
Did you guess it? The answer is b) the Atacama Desert in Chile. There's so much sunshine in the Atacama desert that Some chefs who live there use the sun to cook their food. What? That saves on gas bills. What kind of food would you cook with the sun? I think I'd cook up a nice piece of fish. But there's no water around there. Hmm, maybe visa cactus. Wow, you can take a virtual tour of the Atacama Desert courtesy of Lonely Planet. Check it out in the show notes. Time's up. 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 co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News creative team is cooking with the sun and includes Tracey Crooks, Tessa Flannery, Pete Musto, Adam Barnard, and Nathalie Alonso. 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. All that desert talk is making me thirsty. I'm gonna go drink some water. You too! Hydrate, it's good for you.
