A Total Solar Eclipse Recap + Earth Day 🌎
LISTEN HERE
The Ten News: Season 4, Episode 37
Today on The Ten News 🌎 Earth Day 2024 is Monday, April 22nd! Let's celebrate with some fun facts about the day and great things happening with the planet! 🌗 Plus, Bridget Todd stops by to share a totally awesome recap of the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse 🌳 And, on the trivia throne: how many trees are there for each person on Earth?
Resources
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/09/climate/amazon-deforestation.html
https://www.independent.co.uk/space/solar-eclipse-total-2024-time-totality-path-when-b2525515.html
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TRANSCRIPT:
INT. TEN NEWS STUDIO
<SFX door opens + Footsteps>
PAM: Hey Ryan! Happy almost Earth day–
RYAN: <sfx footsteps> Whatup Pamelamalamalam–
<SFX Ryan trips and falls>
PAM: Whoa Ryan, are you okay??
RYAN: I’m good, it’s just hard to see you–
PAM: Why are you wearing eclipse glasses??
RYAN: Because I missed the total Eclipse and I refuse to miss it again…
PAM: Ummmm, Ry, it’s not until…
<SFX Ryan crashes into a desk>
RYAN: I’m fine! Totally fine. So fine that we should start the show. I’m Ryan Willard.
PAM: And I’m Pamela Kirkland. It’s Thursday, April 18th.
RYAN: This is the Ten News.
PAM: So if you just sit still and don’t move, you won’t crash in to anything–
RYAN: I can sit still but I cannot promise to not crash into anything. Aren’t we celebrating Earth Day today?
PAM: We are! Earth Day 2024 is on April 22nd. It’s a day for humans to raise awareness of environmental issues and to promote eco-friendly practices. Do you know how it started?
RYAN: Earth Day started in the US in 1970, when Gaylord Nelson, a Wisconsin Senator and John McConnell, a San Francisco activist, encouraged Americans to join a grassroots demonstration to raise awareness about air pollution, pesticides and toxic drinking water.
PAM: Yup! And it worked: more than 20 million Americans participated and as a result the US government created the Environmental Protection Agency by the end of 1970 and followed up with laws like the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.
RYAN: And now, more than 190 different countries around the world celebrate Earth Day.
PAM: Since we are going into Earth Day, let’s talk about some GOOD things happening with the planet.
RYAN: Solar Power is smashing records in the United States. A report from the Solar Energy Industries Association showed that in 2023 Solar Power accounted for most of the capacity the US added to its electric grid. California and Texas led the charge to a stellar year which we hope continues in 2024!
PAM: The Earth’s lungs are breathing a little bit easier…Deforestation in the Amazon has dropped to a 5 year low. Brazil, which has the biggest share of tropical forest in the world, has made great progress and eco-minded President Lula announced a $204 million RE-forestation fund to work with their pledge to stop all deforestation by the end of the decade.
RYAN: The theme for Earth Day 2024 is Planet vs Plastics, which aims to raise awareness of plastic pollution for the sake of humanity and planetary health and demand a 60% reduction in the production of all plastic by 2040. The goal is to reduce single use plastic consumption, demand an end to fast fashion, invest in technology that can reduce plastic use and push for a strong UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution.
PAM: By June of 2024, the EU is required to finish the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, which is the world’s biggest attempt to crack down on microplastics leaking into the environment. In the EU, some packaging will be completely banned, and by 2030, all packaging material must contain recycled material.
RYAN: We hope to see efforts like this from the US and China, so if you want to join in on the fight against plastics this Earth Day, check out our show notes for some links to help you get involved!
PAM: Did you see the Solar Eclipse?
RYAN: The Ten’ers might’ve, but I did not. And I can’t see much of anything with these glasses. I’m still wrapping my head around what an eclipse is…
PAM: A solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the sun and the earth, blocking all or part of the sun. On April 8th 2024 A TOTAL solar eclipse tracked from south central Mexico all the way up across the United States up to northern Maine. In a total solar eclipse, the sun was completely blocked, causing a period of darkness, and was even up to 4 minutes in New Jersey. The eclipse’s path of totality crossed directly over 44 million making it the biggest eclipse crowd ever for North America.
RYAN: I can’t believe I missed it.
PAM: Well you’re in luck, Bridget Todd is here to give us a recap!
RYAN: THE Bridget Todd?!? Where is she?
PAM: Right over…here
BRIDGET TODD: This week there was a solar eclipse, that means the moon traveled in between the Earth and Sun. I traveled all the way to Mazatlan Mexico to see the eclipse in what’s called the path of totality. That means the moon was directly and exactly in between the sun and the earth for about 4 and a half minutes. It was my first time seeing an eclipse in this way.
I’d been told it’s really cool! It kind of looks and feels like it does when it's night time - the sky gets all dark, the bird stops chirping, and it’s like somebody just turned the lights wayyyy down. Only it’s happening in the middle of the day - NOT at night! You didnt have to go to Mexico though, because you could see totality from parts of Vermont, New York State, Texas and Ohio. As long as it wasn’t too cloudy, that is.
But even if you don’t live in a state in the path of totality, you might have been able to see the moon go over the sun a little bit through special dark eclipse glasses - this is important, you should never look at the sun without glasses like these because you could hurt your eyes - you shouldn't do it ever, but especially not during an eclipse.
I had never seen a total eclipse before. It felt like the entire city - kids, grown ups, everybody! went out onto the beach in Mexico to wait for it and watch it. As the moon slowly passed in front of the sun, the entire beach got darker, it started to feel like it was dusk. The air got cooler and the there were shadows everywhere. It was beautiful. And it seemed like both the longest and the shortest 4 minutes ever. I didnt want it to end. But it did and we all had to put our glasses back on because the moon was slowly uncovering the sun. As amazing as the eclipse was, probably the most fun part was watching it on the beach with so many people, some of whom traveled from all over just to see this one eclipse for 4 minutes.
And it reminded me of when I was a little kid. When I was a little kid, I loved looking up at the sky. I loved laying on my back looking at the stars, watching meteor showers, and looking for planets. And out on the beach during the eclipse, we were all little kids, looking up at the sky in wonder. Back to you, Pamela! Back to you, Ryan!
RYAN: Thanks so much for stopping by Bridget!
PAM: She’s already gone, Ryan.
RYAN: Ah, yup. Missed that completely.
<SFX footsteps>
RYAN: Excuse me, I hear a human with small feet. Identify yourself.
TALIA: Hi! I’m Talia, Owen’s cousin. I’m looking for the Trivia Room…
RYAN: Oh cool! It’s two doors down the hall!
TALIA: Thanks!
<Music out >
<SFX Trivia Room door opens>
<SFX shiny sparkly magical>
OWEN: Welcome to the Trivia Room!
TALIA: Hiiii Owen.
OWEN: Hi Talia! I’m so excited that you came to visit!
TALIA: Thank you for letting me visit. What a cool throne.
OWEN: Thanks, wanna jump on and try it?
TALIA: Absolutely.
OWEN: I’m not sure if you know this Talia, but I’m a big fan of TREES. They do so many cool things: they provide shade, improve air quality and even help fight climate change. But, do you know how many trees there are for each person on Earth? Is it APPROXIMATELY:
100 trees per person?
277 trees per person? Or
400 trees per person?
TALIA: (ADLIB ANSWER)
OWEN: The answer is…<SFX drumroll> C! A 2015 study from Nasa estimated that there are about 3 Trillion trees on the planet, give or take a few million. And since there’s around 8 billion people on Earth, the math says there are about 400 trees for every person!
TALIA: (ADLIB ANSWER)
OWEN: Thanks for playing Talia!
TALIA : Thanks for having me Owen!
OWEN: Ten’ers, if you have a great trivia question or want to sit on the Trivia Throne, leave us a message at 877-TEN-NEWS and we might have you on the show!
<sfx shimmer/shine fades and door closes>
RYAN: You know, I’m getting kind of used to wearing these eclipse glasses. Maybe I can train Midnight and Tuesday to be seeing my eye cats.
<SFX meow>
PAM: I don’t think that’s an actual thing. And Midnight doesn’t look like she wants to leave her bed.
<SFX meow>
PAM: So how are you going to play video games wearing those…?
RYAN: OKAY THEY’RE OFF. That was a great point. Should we do Ten News Snaps for our listeners?
PAM: Yup, but first, here’s a quick note for the grownups.
[Ad Break]
RYAN: Time for Ten News Snaps! <Grand fanfare SFX>
PAM: A number of Ten’ers have left reviews with LOTS of butterfly emojis…
RYAN: WAIT WHAT–
PAM: CoolGuy100 left a bunch of butterflies, which apparently said, “We’re coming for you Ryan” and listener “hogiutduordpuf” said “Dear Ryan, There is only butterflies.” And Krazyfox132 said, “I love this podcast, does Pamela like foxes? Also Ryan will you please like butterflies? The pod is better than most.”
PAM: <respond to the foxes question>
RYAN: Thank you to everyone who left reviews and no thank you to everyone who mentioned butterflies. I’m not sure why anyone would mention those terrifying creatures in a review, but we appreciate the feedback. And thanks for listening to the Ten News.
RYAN: Our episodes drop on Thursdays. And if you want some bonus content, you could join the Ten’ers Club on our website. And to our grownups, if you want to help support the Ten News, you can make a tax-deductible donation at the link in our show notes. The whole team thanks you for your support!
PAM: “The Ten News” is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts, and part of the Airwave Podcast Network.
RYAN: The Ten News creative team is waiting a really long time for the next total solar eclipse and includes Tracey Crooks, Logan DeYoung, Corinne Catibayan, and Carson Potter. Big thanks to Bridget Todd for stopping by and Owen for contributing to this episode.
PAM: Our Production Director is Jeremiah Tittle, and our Executive Producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan.
RYAN: I’m Ryan Willard.
PAM: And I’m Pamela Kirkland, thanks for listening to The Ten News.
