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Japan releases nuclear wastewater into the Pacific; asteroid samples give a glimpse into the future; are offshore wind farms killing whales?; the Billion Oyster Project is restoring New York Harbor.
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Japan releases nuclear wastewater into the Pacific; asteroid samples give a glimpse into the future; are offshore wind farms killing whales?; the Billion Oyster Project is restoring New York Harbor.
About EarthxNews:
A weekly program dedicated to covering the stories that shape the planet. Featuring the latest updates in energy, environment, tech, climate, and more.
EarthX & EarthXtra
Love Our Planet.
The Official Network of Earth Day.
About Us:
At EarthX, we believe our planet is a pretty special place. The people, landscapes, and critters are likely unique to the entire universe, so we consider ourselves lucky to be here. We are committed to protecting the environment by inspiring conservation and sustainability, and our programming along with our range of expert hosts support this mission. We’re glad you’re with us.
EarthX is a media company dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet. We take an omni channel approach to reach audiences of every age through its robust 24/7 linear channel distributed across cable and FAST outlets, along with dynamic, solution oriented short form content on social and digital platforms. EarthX is home to original series, documentaries and snackable content that offer sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. EarthX is the only network that delivers entertaining and inspiring topics that impact and inspire our lives on climate and sustainability.
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TVTranscript
00:00Japan began releasing millions of tons of nuclear wastewater into the Pacific.
00:06Will it affect the ecosystem and exported fish who live there?
00:10We'll tell you what nuclear watchdogs say.
00:12And our planet continues being hit with once-in-a-lifetime storms,
00:17multiple times in our lifetime.
00:19A new AI storm tracker will be able to track these with pinpoint accuracy like never before.
00:24And the oldest piece of our past could give us a glimpse into the future.
00:30How NASA is pulling clues from space.
00:41Hello and welcome to EarthX News.
00:44We are dedicated entirely to sustainability and the environment.
00:47I'm your host, Christina Thompson.
00:49Here are some of the biggest headlines facing our planet that we're following.
00:53Japan started releasing treated wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant
00:58into the Pacific waters off their coast.
01:00Since the 2011 tsunami severely damaged the plant,
01:04more than a million tons of treated wastewater has built up.
01:08They just began the three-decade-long process of releasing it
01:12after getting the OK of approval from the UN nuclear watchdog,
01:16the International Atomic Energy Agency.
01:18Now, the plan has been controversial in Japan and neighboring countries who engage in seafood export.
01:24China, for instance, cut 67 percent of their fish import from Japan once the release began,
01:31costing the Japanese fishing industry $20 million.
01:34And lead researcher with Safecast, an independent nuclear watchdog, told the New York Times,
01:40the health risk posed by the released water will be very low
01:43and a magnitude of thousands of times lower than everyday exposure to radiation.
01:48But the entire process has not been transparent enough.
01:53Japan researchers say they have been meticulous about sampling fish before and after the release
01:58and have not found any detectable amounts of radionuclides in the fish surrounding the Fukushima plant.
02:05The Japanese government has been timely and effectively updating the world on the release,
02:10saying,
02:10so far,
02:11so good.
02:13And artificial intelligence might be the answer to curbing some of the devastation and lives lost
02:18during catastrophic natural disasters.
02:21A new AI machine improves the predictive power of hurricane models
02:25and paints a more accurate picture of how fast they can intensify,
02:29helping keep countless people out of danger.
02:32Pacific Northwest National Laboratory developed a machine that detects relationships
02:37between hurricane behavior and climate factors like heat stored in the ocean, wind speed, and air temperatures.
02:43Their algorithms then generate predictions about potential paths the storms might take,
02:49how strong they will likely be,
02:51and how quickly they can intensify,
02:53all without the potential for human error.
02:56And a new satellite over Europe aims to understand weather patterns better than ever before,
03:01preventing mass amounts of casualties we've seen from recent severe weather events worldwide,
03:06like the wildfires in Maui and flooding in Pakistan and Libya.
03:10The European Space Agency launched their METEOSAT third-generation satellite in 2022,
03:16and they just got back the data they were hoping for.
03:19Detailed images of weather patterns over Europe and Africa.
03:23Now, the level of detail in these images was unachievable over Europe and African and geostationary orbit
03:29until now.
03:31Researchers are hopeful these remarkable images will bring a new era
03:34in the forecasting of severe weather events.
03:37And researchers in Japan developed a new laser-based sampling system for studying ice cores of glaciers.
03:44Similar to how rings on a tree trunk tells us the tree's age,
03:48ice cores can actually tell us a lot about the climate during specific periods in time
03:53by tracking their growth.
03:54Before this laser technology, scientists could not pull samples
03:58from the deepest and oldest locations within a glacier.
04:02Now, they can pinpoint annual temperatures from thousands to hundreds of thousands of years ago.
04:07With help, scientists will better understand climate change in the past and present.
04:14And making history.
04:15After years of anticipation and hard work by NASA,
04:19we now have the world's first collected asteroid sample of rocks and dust.
04:23Take a listen.
04:25We see.
04:26CDL milestone.
04:28We have confirmed parachute deployment.
04:31Unexploded ordinances, UXOs.
04:32Recovery operations.
04:34The capsule from asteroid Bennu touched down in Utah
04:37and was helicoptered to a clean room setup away from earthly contaminants.
04:42The asteroid is one of the oldest in our solar system.
04:45Scientists say it will help us better understand planet formation
04:48and the origin of organics and water that first started life on Earth.
04:53According to the United Nations, the science is clear.
04:57To avoid the worst impacts of climate change,
04:59emissions need to be reduced by almost half by 2030
05:02and reach net zero by 2050.
05:05Regardless of the source,
05:07the energy requirements of the planet are increasing
05:09and will need to be met somehow.
05:11One of the tools providing a clean energy solution is wind turbines.
05:16But regardless of the green energy development,
05:19some environmentalists are not on board.
05:21They oppose the project because of debates
05:23over offshore wind farms' impacts on whales in the region.
05:27Whale strandings in the Northeast are not new,
05:30but they are happening more and more often.
05:32The first offshore wind turbine in the Northeast began operating in 2016
05:36when the whale death uptick started.
05:39Here with me to share her findings and hypothesis,
05:41the co-chair for the Wildlife for the Energy and Community Coalition
05:44and the founder of Save Right Whales Coalition, Lisa Linos.
05:49Lisa, thank you so much for coming on the show.
05:51Before we get into what's happening to the whales,
05:53I first wanted to ask you,
05:55do you think that wind energy has a place in our energy plans
05:59and should it be utilized in the right conditions?
06:03That's a big question.
06:05Wind energy, in large respect, is an ancillary source of generation
06:09simply because it's entirely reliant on the weather.
06:11So we cannot run the United States economy
06:14on wind or solar and renewables in general.
06:17So it has a place, but not as large as what the public has been led to believe.
06:23Okay.
06:24And I know that you recently worked on a documentary.
06:26It argues that wind turbines could be behind the whale deaths.
06:29Can you explain what you guys found?
06:31Yeah, absolutely.
06:32So it's not the wind turbines yet.
06:35We only have about seven operating turbines in the United States right now.
06:39But it's the pre-construction work that is happening offshore,
06:43where they're conducting sonar surveys to identify the subsurface,
06:48what the land is under the water in preparation for development.
06:51And it's that process that we believe is causing the whales to die.
06:56So there's a huge debate about this right now in the media.
06:59We know the federal government, the wind farm companies, a lot of scientists,
07:02they've said that they definitively can't point to the turbines as the whale killer culprit.
07:08Noah sent out a statement saying that the wind farms certainly are affecting the whales,
07:12but not killing them.
07:14I know you were just saying that it's not the wind farms yet.
07:17Why do you think that it could get potentially worse for whales?
07:21Oh, because what's happening right now is that this precursor
07:24is a small piece of what we're going to have when the projects are actually operational.
07:29The level of noise that is being produced in the water at this point is significant.
07:35And what we did in our investigations, we actually had a two-pronged investigation.
07:41And we found both temporal and spatial correlation between the whale deaths
07:46and the activity within these areas, meaning that at the same time
07:51and at roughly the same place, the whales were dying when the boats were active.
07:56Then we went back further and we looked at the noise itself.
08:00We had an acoustician went out there and actually measured the noise levels.
08:04And what we found was shocking.
08:07And that, we believe, is what's killing the whales.
08:09The noise is enormous.
08:11It's not being mitigated properly.
08:13And the whales are getting too close to the sound.
08:16Interesting.
08:17Lisa, thank you so much for coming on, for sharing your report and your findings.
08:20We appreciate it.
08:22Our next guest is pointing to a different culprit behind the whale deaths,
08:26climate change and shipping lanes.
08:29Regina Asmuta-Silvia, the Executive Director at Whale and Dolphin Conservation in North America.
08:34Regina, thank you so much for coming on, for sharing your expertise.
08:37I wanted to ask, in your opinion, what is causing these whale deaths?
08:41Based on the information that's available, based on the ability to do the necropsies and the examinations,
08:49most of the animals that have been examined have evidence of vessel strikes.
08:53We've seen a number of species that have had a change in distribution as a result of a change in climate
08:58and changing prey bases, where they're going to go look for food, where they're finding food.
09:02There's been some fishery management changes that have led to an increase in abundance of menhaden,
09:07and the small schooling fish, particularly in the Mid-Atlantic and the New York bite area.
09:11And we don't know how whales find their food, but they're good at it.
09:14So there have been an increase in the number of whales going into that area looking for food.
09:19There is an increase in activity.
09:21It's not a place that we would have probably had management measures previously,
09:26because that area wasn't considered to be a high-use area for a lot of different whale species in the past.
09:31And so seeing more whale watching happening in that area regularly was another indication of the fact
09:37that whales are being sighted there on a more consistent basis.
09:40And more whales in an area, particularly in a place that has a lot of boat traffic,
09:44is unfortunately going to lead to issues where you're going to have vessel strikes.
09:49Is there anything else that you can point to, other than boats, entanglement, relocation because of climate change,
09:56that you can blame for the whale deaths?
09:58I mean, I think that it's really important for people to understand that it's not really super simple to always know why a whale died.
10:09These animals are warm-blooded animals.
10:11They are encased in a thick blubber layer.
10:13They start to decompose the second they die.
10:15And they're not dying on the beach.
10:16They're dying somewhere at sea, starting to decompose before the currents bring them up onto the beach.
10:21At that point, there are some really skilled stranding responders in the Mid-Atlantic area in particular
10:26that are going out and trying to examine these carcasses.
10:30And a postmortem on a large whale is a lot of work,
10:34and it's not something simple to do once the tissue starts to decompose.
10:39So when they do do these postmortems and they're looking inside of whales,
10:43they're looking for things like, is there bruising?
10:45Are there broken bones?
10:46Are there evidence externally on signs of entanglements?
10:48Are there ligature marks?
10:50Are there cases of disease?
10:53They're looking at organs if they're intact enough to be able to examine them,
10:57doing histology, trying to figure out if there's parasite loads.
11:01You know, the question of ears has come up quite a bit,
11:05and the small hairs that are on the ear decompose almost instantly after those animals die.
11:12So there's not, it's not so simple to have a carcass wash up on the beach
11:18and do the extensive exams that I think some of the public think that are possible.
11:23So where those exams can occur and what they can find in those cases have,
11:29in that particular area, really have been pointing to vessel strikes.
11:33Obviously, a lot goes into this, but we do appreciate you coming on and sharing your expertise.
11:37Regina Smutas, Sylvia, thank you.
11:39Thanks for having me.
11:40Mark your calendars because World Whale Day is February 18th next year.
11:46This event started in Maui in the 80s to bring focus to whale conservation.
11:51From giant mammals to tiny mollusks,
11:54learn how oysters are being used to clean our waterways.
11:57That's next on EarthX News.
11:59Rebuilding our harbors, one oyster at a time.
12:12The Billion Oyster Project is making it their goal to restore oyster reefs in the New York Harbor.
12:18To date, they've returned 100 million oysters to the harbor
12:21and collected 2 million pounds of oyster shells with the help of 11,000 students and volunteers.
12:27Here with me to dive deeper into the benefits of this project is the Billion Oyster Project Director of Development, Brian Rager.
12:35Brian, thank you so much for coming on the show.
12:37First of all, can you explain to everyone what the Billion Oyster Project is?
12:41Sure. Yeah.
12:43And thank you so much for having me today.
12:44As it says on the tin, you know, on the front end is we are trying to put a billion oysters back into New York Harbor.
12:51So if you think about New York Harbor, it's helpful to think about it being too cold for coral reef.
12:56But the oysters were basically our coral reef.
13:00In fact, they're the coral reef of every ecosystem north of Virginia.
13:05So we are trying to put a billion back in the water because that is basically what it takes to recreate that original population.
13:12And then it'll bring all the other wildlife and biodiversity back with it.
13:15The fish and the crab and the dolphins and the seals and everything we think about in terms of abundant ocean biodiversity is what is started by the oyster itself.
13:26So that's the first thing that we're doing.
13:27And then the second thing is we're hoping to engage a million New Yorkers in this process.
13:32We do that by working in over 100 public schools around the city, offering free STEM education activities on the waterfront for, you know, hundreds of classrooms to come down, learn about the oyster, learn about its world and how their role in students, you know, day to day actions have a real impact on their environment around them.
13:51That's really cool.
13:52And I know that not only I read a little bit about it, not only will it improve the water ecosystem, but it's actually going to help our shorelines as well.
13:59Can you touch on that?
14:01Absolutely.
14:01So, you know, you touched on one thing that the oyster does that, you know, an adult oyster at three years will clean 50 gallons of water a day.
14:09So a billion oysters is actually enough to clean the entirety of New York Harbor every three days.
14:14We've currently restored 136 million oysters to date, which is enough to clean basically the water body of the Chrysler building every single day.
14:24So that gives you kind of a filtration impact.
14:26But more than that, you know, our shoreline used to be protected by these three-dimensional oyster reefs, unlike scallops or clams that also filter the water.
14:35Oysters actually grow on top of each other and create that three-dimensional reef structure.
14:41And studies have shown that oyster reefs in the wild reduce wave attenuation or wave force between 60 and 80 percent.
14:47So when you think about massive super storms kind of coming into New York Harbor, Superstorm Sandy is a great example, right?
14:53We had these massive waves battering the shoreline.
14:56Oyster reefs historically would have been providing that protection.
14:59And so that's what we're building for now is, you know, restoring shoreline through this kind of natural resilience layer.
15:05You guys are very popular, so popular that you even had a celebrity visitor.
15:10Prince William came to look at what you guys are doing.
15:13That is so cool.
15:14You know, one of the cool things about what I get to do every day is just the amazing amount of public support we get.
15:21You know, everyone from, you know, school students to eight-year-olds that I meet at weddings have a general understanding of what we do.
15:28But Prince William was certainly one of the really most interesting experiences.
15:33You know, we really appreciated that the Kensington Palace and the prince himself remained interested, remained, you know, excited for this opportunity to come out.
15:41And, you know, we were absolutely honored to get two and a half hours and show him our work.
15:45He met with students.
15:46He met with our staff.
15:47He saw the oyster reefs up close.
15:49And we hope that he left with a real understanding of what we're trying to do in New York City.
15:53What was his verdict?
15:54What did he think about what you all were doing?
15:56I think he liked it.
15:58You know, he got a hat on, which we heard was a pretty rare feat to get him dressed up in the gear.
16:05But, you know, I think the most meaningful factor was, you know, the next day he invited our executive director, Pete Malinowski, to attend the Earth Shot Summit,
16:13which is, you know, the Prince's Foundation's Keystone Environmental kind of grant-giving mission.
16:20But it's really just also a way to get kind of like the people who are in the philanthropic and corporate space to start thinking about some amazing,
16:28amazing solutions that are being grown by nonprofits and for-profits around the world.
16:32And, you know, inviting us into that room.
16:34You know, I've been in a lot of rooms in New York City.
16:36I've been around a lot of people.
16:37But I was pretty blown away when I was standing next to a Bloomberg daughter and she couldn't get a seat.
16:43So that was a pretty cool room to be in.
16:45Well, Ryan Rager, thank you so much for coming on, for talking with us about your Billy and Oyster Project.
16:50It's awesome what you all are doing for the New York Harbors.
16:53Thanks for coming out.
16:54And listen, we're on the water five days a week.
16:56So if you're ever in New York City, we'd love to take you out and show you an oyster reef.
16:59I would love that.
17:00Thank you for the invite.
17:02Yeah.
17:02Cheers, guys.
17:03And a few more details on what Brian was just talking about.
17:08Prince William visited New York for two days during Climate Week, a summit on climate action that takes place alongside the United Nations General Assembly.
17:16His first stop was to a pile of shells on Governor's Island donated by New York's finest dining establishments in solidarity with the Billy and Oyster Project.
17:26Now, after returning some oysters to the harbor, he met with the U.N. Secretary General and announced his finalists for the Earthshot Prize, an award by the climate-focused charity that he founded in 2020, which gives the winner a one-million-pound prize to continue their environmental work.
17:44The winner will be announced at the Earthshot Prize ceremony in Singapore on November 7th.
17:50Coming up, the challenges to becoming a green city.
17:56Europe hopes to be a world leader in the transition to clean energy, making a pledge to the European Green Deal.
18:15It's a strategy to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
18:18Now, one of those initiatives requiring automakers to cut 100 percent of carbon emissions in new cars sold in the European Union by 2035.
18:28That's according to the new law, making it impossible to sell new cars powered by fossil fuels.
18:33Here in the U.S., California passed similar legislation banning the sale of gasoline-powered cars by 2035, and New York swiftly followed.
18:43But some European countries are now learning that implementing climate-friendly policies is oftentimes easier said than done.
18:51Foreign correspondent Alex Salvi has more on the early obstacles to reducing emissions.
18:56A transportation revolution is underway in Europe, leaders banning cars in city centers in an effort to ease traffic and curb greenhouse emissions.
19:06Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Paris, all drastically reducing the number of vehicles on the streets in exchange for bicycles and walking paths.
19:14The trend beginning in Spain's Ponte Vedra in 1999, when cars were banned in most of the city, a move that reduced air pollution by nearly 70 percent.
19:24Over 20 years later, and similar low-emission zones are on the rise, increasing by 40 percent in Europe since the start of the COVID pandemic.
19:32But some countries are having a hard time implementing such policies, while others are challenging the premise of the idea altogether.
19:39The dilemma is playing out in the German capital of Berlin, a city that was moving towards outright banning cars in the city center, but began to run into problems during the execution of the plan.
19:49The Christian Democrat Party controls Berlin for the first time in over two decades, largely due to its opposition to emission-free zones.
19:57It ran on a platform of walking back what it described as unfair mobility restrictions for citizens, and is quickly acting on its campaign promise.
20:05Vehicles are returning to areas once labeled as car-free, and bike path projects are being put on hold pending additional review.
20:14It's a blatant rebuke to newly implemented climate-friendly policies, with voters rejecting the architects in a February election, and conservative leaders giving the people the power to address the issue themselves.
20:26It's an approach gaining popularity across Europe, most recently being applied on a larger scale in the United Kingdom.
20:31The U.K. is scrapping a ban on gas cars, which was set to go into effect in 2030, but is now being pushed back to 2035.
20:39Prime Minister Rishi Sunik maintains that the country must find a way to fight climate change without penalizing consumers and workers, something he believes can happen absent additional regulation.
20:49But I also think that, at least for now, it should be you, the consumer, that makes that choice, not government forcing you to do it.
20:57But its failure to overcome the first hurdle has some questioning if the ambitious goal is realistic, and if so, how it can best be achieved.
21:06In Rome, I'm Alex Salvi.
21:08Alex Salvi, thank you for that report.
21:11Some big cities here in the U.S. are looking for ways to cut back on the number of cars each day, but there are already places here where cars are not allowed.
21:20Halibut Cove, Alaska, one of the world's only floating towns.
21:24Supai, Arizona, the nearest road, is eight miles away.
21:28Mackinac Island, Michigan, you can get around on foot, bike, or horse.
21:33Fire Island, New York, the only way there is by passenger ferry.
21:37Balthead Island, North Carolina, golf carts okay, cars are not.
21:41Tanger Island, Virginia, known for soft shell crabbing.
21:44And Governor's Island in New York Harbor, where you get a great view of the Statue of Liberty.
21:50That's it for this edition of EarthX News.
21:52Please join us again next week.
21:54I'm Christina Thompson.
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