Hey, Ryan.
Happy almost Earth Day.
What up, Pam-a-lam-a-lam-a-lam-a-ah!
Whoa!
Ryan, are you okay?
I'm good.
It's just hard to see you.
Why are you wearing eclipse glasses?
Because I missed the total eclipse, and I refuse to miss it again.
Um, Ryan...
I'm fine.
Totally fine.
So fine that we should start the show.
I'm Ryan Willard.
And I'm Pamela Kirkland.
It's Thursday, April 18th.
This is the 10 News.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6.
So if you just sit still and don't move, you won't crash into anything.
I can sit still, but I cannot promise to not crash into anything.
Aren't we celebrating Earth Day today?
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?
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.
Yep, 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.
And now, more than 190 different countries around the world celebrate Earth Day.
Since we're going into Earth Day, let's talk about some good things happening with the planet.
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.
The Earth's lungs are breathing a little bit easier.
Deforestation in the Amazon has dropped to a five-year low.
Brazil, which has the biggest share of tropical forests in the world, has made great progress and eco-minded President Lula announced a 204 million reforestation fund to work with their pledge to stop all deforestation by the end of the decade.
Now the theme for Earth Day 2024 is planet versus 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.
By the end of June 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.
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.
Did you see the solar eclipse?
The tenors might have, but I did not.
And I can't see much of anything with these glasses on, and I'm still wrapping my head around what exactly an eclipse is.
A solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the sun and 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 to northern Maine.
In a total solar eclipse.
The sun was completely blocked, causing a period of darkness, and was even up to four minutes in New Jersey.
The eclipse's path of totality crossed directly over 44 million people, making it the biggest eclipse crowd ever for North America.
I can't believe I missed it.
Well, you're in luck.
Bridget Todd is here to give us a recap.
The Bridget Todd?
Where is she?
Right over here.
This week, there was a solar eclipse.
That means the Moon traveled in between the Earth and the Sun.
And 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 four and a half minutes.
It was my first time seeing an eclipse in this way.
Now, I had been told that it's really cool.
It kind of looks and feels like it does when it's nighttime.
The sky gets all dark.
It gets really quiet.
The birds stop chirping.
And it's like somebody just turned the lights all the way down.
Only, it's not happening at night.
It's happening in the middle of the day.
You didn't have to go all the way to Mazatlan Mexico, like I did though, because you could see totality from parts of Vermont, New York State, Ohio and Texas, 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 really important.
You should never look at the sun without these special dark glasses, because you could hurt your eyes.
You shouldn't do it ever, but especially you shouldn't do it during an eclipse.
I had never seen a total eclipse before and it felt like the entire city.
Kids grown-ups, everybody went down onto the beach in Mexico to wait for it and watch.
As the moon slowly passed in front of the sun, the entire beach got darker, quieter.
It started to feel like it does when it's dusk.
The air got cooler and there were weird shadows everywhere.
And then, when the moon was finally directly over the sun, we were in totality.
Just the tiniest little sliver of sun, y'all.
Oh, my God!
I'm trying to find words to describe it, but I really don't have them.
It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
It was so beautiful.
And it seemed like both the longest and the shortest four minutes ever.
I didn't want it to end, but it did end.
And we all had to put our special eclipse glasses back on because the moon was slowly uncovering the sun.
It was beautiful.
As beautiful as the eclipse was, probably the best part was just watching it down on the beach, with so many people, some of whom traveled from all over, just to watch this one eclipse for four minutes.
And it reminded me of when I was a little kid.
When I was a kid, I loved looking up at the sky.
I loved laying on my back looking up 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, Ryan.
Thanks so much for stopping by, Bridget.
She's already gone, Ryan.
Ah, yep.
Missed that completely.
Excuse me.
I hear a human with small feet.
Identify yourself.
Hi, I'm Talia, Owen's cousin.
I'm looking for the trivia room.
Oh, cool.
It's two doors down the hall.
Thanks.
Welcome to the trivia room.
Hi, Owen.
Hi, Talia.
I'm so excited that you came to visit.
What a cool throne.
Want to jump on and try it?
But you don't know the rule.
Whoever sits on the throne has to answer the questions.
What is going on here?
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 A, 100 trees per person, B, 277 trees per person, or C, 400 trees per person?
C. The answer is C. Eh.
I just guessed.
In 2015, a 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 that there are about 400 trees for every person.
Wow, that's a lot of trees.
Thanks for playing, Talia.
Thanks for having me, Owen.
Tenors.
If you have a great trivia question or want to sit on the trivia throne, leave us a message at 877-10NEWS and we might have you on the show.
You know, I'm getting kind of used to wearing these eclipse glasses.
Maybe I can train midnight and Tuesday to be by seeing eye cats.
I don't think that's an actual thing.
And midnight doesn't look like she wants to leave her bed.
So how are you going to play video games wearing those?
Okay, they're off.
That was a great point.
Should we do 10 new snaps for our listeners?
Yep.
But first, here's a quick note for the grownups.
Hey parents, quick question.
Have you hit that point in the school year where you're juggling a lot and just trying to help your kids stay motivated through the end of the year?
One thing that's made that easier for me lately is IXL.
IExcel is an all-in-one online learning platform with practice in math, language arts, science and social studies from pre-K through 12th grade.
Everything's in one place and it's really easy to jump in, whether you've got 10 minutes or a full lesson block.
And with spring schedules getting busy, that flexibility really matters.
What I also love is how it keeps kids motivated.
There are little celebrations, awards and progress markers built in so kids can actually see how they're improving, which makes a big difference this time of year.
IXL is used by millions of students and it's backed by research showing real results which, as a parent, just gives you extra confidence.
So make an impact on your child's learning.
Get IXL now.
And 10 News listeners can get an exclusive 20 off IXL membership when you sign up today at ixlcom.
Slash 10.
Visit iExcel.com slash 10 to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price.
Are you looking for a podcast that your whole family can enjoy?
That asks the deep philosophical questions like do trees fart?
If you are, then you'll love Tumble, a science podcast for kids.
I'm Lindsay.
And I'm Marshall.
Join us as we explore stories of science discovery from butts to animals dinosaurs, astronomy and everything in between.
You'll love these stories and you'll learn something new.
Find and follow Tumble Science Podcast for Kids wherever you get your podcasts or at sciencepodcastforkidscom.
Time for 10 News Snaps.
A number of tenors have left reviews with lots of butterfly emojis.
Wait, what?
CoolGuy100 left a bunch of butterflies, which apparently said And listener H-O-G-I-U-T-D-U-O-R-D-P-U-F said there is only butterflies.
And crazy fox 132 said i love this podcast.
Does pamela like foxes?
Also ryan, will you please like butterflies?
The pod is better than most.
I actually do like foxes.
Thank you to everyone who left reviews and no thank you to everyone who mentioned.
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 10 News.
Our episodes drop on Thursdays and if you want some bonus content, you can join the Tenors Club on our website.
And to our grown-ups.
If you want to help support The 10 News, you can make a tax-deductible donation at the link in our show notes.
The whole team thanks you for your support.
The 10 News is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and part of the Airwave Podcast Network.
The 10 News creative team is waiting a really long time for the next total solar eclipse and includes Tracy Crooks, Logan DeYoung, Korean Katabayan and Carson Potter.
Big thanks to Bridget Todd for stopping by and Owen for contributing to this episode.
Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan.
I'm Ryan Willard.
And I'm Pamela Kirkland.
Thanks for listening to the 10 News.
