Category 6 Hurricanes? | EarthxNews Full Episode - video Dailymotion

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EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/   Do EVs release more toxic emissions?; peanut shells become lithium batteries; winter heat wave makes history; scientists ponder new category six hurricane label; Ecuador combats wildlife trafficking.   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.       EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/    Follow Us:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earthxmedia/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/earthxmedia  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EarthXMedia/  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@earthxmedia  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EarthXMedia  Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/earthxmedia    How to watch:    EarthX - Cable:  - Spectrum  - AT&T U-verse (1267)  - DIRECTV (267)  - Philo  - FuboTV   EarthXtra - Streaming:  - Plex  - Fire TV  - Xumo  - Sling    #EarthDay #Environment #Sustainability #EcoFriendly #Conservation #EarthX

Transcript

00:00President Joe Biden addresses the administration's efforts to protect the

00:07climate during his State of the Union address. Plus, a study making the case

00:11against electric vehicles. It's getting some attention. Could EVs be worse for the

00:17environment than previously thought? We'll take a look. And scientists are

00:21working on a new method to make lithium-ion batteries from an unlikely

00:26source. Why you may not want to toss your empty peanut shells in the trash.

00:37Hello and welcome to EarthX News, where we focus on sustainability,

00:41conservation, and the environment. I'm Christina Thompson. Let's get into some of

00:45the biggest headlines facing our planet. President Joe Biden touted his investments

00:49into addressing climate change and the push to transition to clean energy during his

00:54state of the Union address. During the speech, Biden ditched the term climate

00:58change, instead calling what's happening to the planet the climate crisis.

01:04I'm taking the most significant action ever on climate in the history of the world.

01:09I'm cutting our carbon emissions in half by 2030, creating tens of thousands of clean

01:15energy jobs like the IBW workers building and installing 500,000 electric vehicle

01:20charging stations. Though Biden did not mention the Inflation Reduction Act by name,

01:24he did discuss how its funding pushed for renewable energy and created more jobs.

01:30The act is responsible for some $370 billion in wind, solar, and renewables. The president also

01:36mentioned his commitment to conserving 30% of America's lands and waters by 2030. He designated

01:42five new national monuments, safeguarding over 1.5 million acres. However, it has been more than

01:49200 days since his last designation of a new national monument. A new study claims electric vehicles

01:54release more toxic emissions and are actually worse for the environment than gas-powered cars.

02:01The op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal cited a 2022 study by emissions data firm

02:06Emissions Analytics. According to the study, brakes and tires on EVs release more than

02:111,800 times more particle pollution compared to modern tailpipes, which have more efficient

02:17exhaust filters that have brought gas-powered vehicles' emissions to new lows. Most vehicle-related

02:23pollution today comes from tire wear. As heavy cars drive on light-duty tires, which are often

02:28created with synthetic rubber made from crude oil and other fillers and additives, they deteriorate and

02:34release harmful chemicals into the air. The average EV is about 30% heavier, so brakes and tires on battery-powered

02:40cars wear out faster than standard vehicles. The firm behind the study described the current state

02:46of EVs as a trade-off. While EVs are reducing CO2, they could be increasing particle pollution due to

02:52brake and tire wear. California's Air Resources Board might have come up with a solution, saying automakers

02:59could offset the weight of heavy batteries with, quote, weight reduction in other components or the vehicle

03:05body. Think twice before throwing those peanut shells away. Scientists developed a new method for producing

03:12lithium-ion batteries, and get this, they're using peanut shells. Here's how it works. Lithium-ion batteries

03:19feature two electrodes with opposite polarities, one positively charged, the other one negatively. The majority

03:26of the negative charge in lithium-ion batteries are currently made using carbon-based materials, such as graphite,

03:32silicon, or a combination of both. But there are safety concerns with using some raw materials and batteries,

03:38like graphite, which also is known to have poor capacity. Peanut shells offer the possibility of a safer,

03:44more efficient, and less expensive solution. Plus, using peanut shells, which would normally just be

03:50thrown away, also helps to cut down on food waste. It's a win-win. A new technology aiming to reduce

03:57industrial emissions is catching the eye of some of the world's biggest investors. As companies

04:02seek fossil fuel-free methods to manufacture construction materials like steel, cement, and chemicals,

04:08major financers are backing a promising heat-storing battery technology to address this challenge.

04:15Groups such as BlackRock, Saudi Uramco, and Rio Tinto are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into

04:21startups developing thermal batteries, which use renewable energy to heat up solid blocks of carbon,

04:27rocks, or molten salt. Some wild winter weather across the central United States made history this

04:33year. But not because it was cold. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,

04:39the month of February came in as the third warmest on record after a stint of summer-like temperatures

04:45swept across several states near the end of last month. States like Nebraska and Iowa saw temperatures in the

04:51mid-70s. That's about 40 degrees above average for this time of year, while cities in the south,

04:57such as Dallas, Texas, sizzled in the mid-90s. Veteran Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Cantore

05:04posted about the unseasonably warm weather on social media, saying, quote,

05:08the fact that we have had 132 February all-time record highs is just insane. Forecasters said it was

05:17difficult to link the remarkable weather pattern to human-induced climate change, but such extremes

05:22were becoming more frequent because of warming temperatures around the globe. Scientists say the

05:27seasonal El Niño weather pattern, in which the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean heat up,

05:32is also contributing to the unusual weather. Some scientists are looking to update the way hurricanes

05:38are classified. Calls for a new Category 6 are growing after a recent study suggested the existing scale may no

05:45longer accurately represent a hurricane's intensity in light of rising ocean temperatures. Currently,

05:51the National Weather Service uses the Saffir-Simpson scale to measure a hurricane's strength,

05:56which can range from a Category 1 to 5. Now, a Category 5 hurricane is a storm with wind speeds of 157

06:04miles per hour or greater. But some researchers propose creating a new scale in which storms with winds

06:10over 192 miles per hour would be classified as Category 6. Recently, we spoke with Brian McNoldy,

06:17Senior Research Associate at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School. Here's that conversation.

06:23With hurricane season fast approaching based on trends, what can we expect this year?

06:27This year, we're looking at probably an active season, though, just given the already record warm

06:34ocean temperatures that are out there in the Atlantic. It looks like those will maintain being abnormally

06:41warm. And then we're also looking for a transition from El Niño to La Niña. And that also has an

06:50influence to increase Atlantic hurricane activity. When we talk about hurricanes, many times we bring up

06:57the level of strength, levels one to five. Can you elaborate on these categories and what exactly

07:02they mean for people who might be living in these communities who are at greater risk for hurricane

07:07season? Certainly. So the rating assigned to a storm is based only on its peak intensity of wind, peak

07:16wind speed somewhere in the storm, which in a hurricane would be near the center, near the eye wall.

07:21And now they're thinking of adding another category, a Category 6. What brought discussions up about

07:28potentially adding a new category to be able to incorporate some of these really intense storms

07:34that we've seen in recent years? Yeah, there was a paper recently that mentioned that there's an

07:42increasing number of storms around the world that could reach this higher threshold. As you mentioned at

07:50the start, the Category 5 bin has a lower limit of 157 miles per hour, but there is no upper limit. So

08:00it's just that plus. So a Category 6 would no longer mean that the Category 5 isn't open-ended, but Category 6

08:10would now be open-ended and start at a much higher number. There's a few storms in the world that would

08:17qualify for this. And I don't think the authors of the paper are really proposing that we add this.

08:23It's just kind of to point out that things are changing and we're seeing these storms that more

08:31and more of them would start to fall into this higher category rating. In your opinion, is it necessary?

08:39No, I don't think so. In a practical sense, the Saffir-Simpson scale is only used in the East

08:48Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. And in those, there's only one storm that ever would have met

08:55the qualification to be a Category 6. That was Hurricane Patricia in 2015 in the East Pacific.

09:02No Atlantic storm to this date would qualify as a Category 6 still. But even if the rest of the

09:11world used the Saffir-Simpson scale, it's such a small, small, small percentage of storms that would

09:19reach this. Around the world, only about 5% of hurricanes are Category 5s. So, you know,

09:27you would split that up into a much smaller slice. But I think in the sense, as it relates to us,

09:35who are, you know, occasionally hit by hurricanes, it doesn't really do anything to improve the

09:43communication of the storms and what threats they pose to people. By the time you're at a Category 5,

09:51it's extremely bad. You know, things getting level, no power, no clean water, et cetera, et cetera.

10:01So a Category 6 is not going to really add information to that in terms of how you would

10:09prepare or evacuate. It would be the same. So it doesn't change the communication of the risk to

10:16people. That does lead me into my next question, because as opposed to trying to fit these storms

10:21into a perfect category wrapped up in a tiny box, should we be focusing on things instead of this,

10:28like the hazards, evacuation, letting people know about storm surge, things like that?

10:34Absolutely. It's like you read my mind. Yeah. The greatest criticism of the Saffir-Simpson scale is

10:42that it is just a number that represents one aspect of a hurricane in one tiny part of a hurricane. It's

10:49just the peak wind in the eye wall. The other hazards like rainfall, which kills a lot of people,

10:59the surge, as you mentioned, is very impactful. Also, you know, it's very important that people

11:07appreciate and recognize those hazards at least more than the wind. I mean, the wind actually kills less

11:14people than those hazards do, but that's what the Saffir-Simpson scale revolves around is the wind.

11:20So yeah, it definitely has a weakness there. Great intel. Brian McNulty, thank you for coming on.

11:25Thank you. Coming up, a recent study takes a look at the health of the world's forests. Plus,

11:31some new research finds certain types of trees are the best at reducing pollution. Stay tuned. Those

11:38stories are just ahead.

11:50A new study reveals the best trees for reducing air pollution. Research from the University of Surrey

12:13shows that evergreen trees with smaller leaves are more efficient at removing air pollution. Of the 10

12:20trees in the study, they discovered that the yew tree, or the Taxus baccata, was the plant that removed

12:26the most air pollution. Different varieties of the yew can be found around the globe, including the

12:31subspecies found on the Pacific west coast, Taxus baccata brevifolia, which is the original source of

12:38taxel, a cancer-fighting drug. The European yew subspecies has slightly broader needles, which have

12:44the ability to capture more urban pollution due to the fact that their surfaces are rough. The study

12:50found that stomata, the pores of the leaf, could help plants catch particles. It's how trees absorb

12:57various pollutants such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter,

13:03filtering these harmful substances from the air. Researchers also found the most effective leaf

13:09types were owl-shaped, found on Japanese cedar and Lawson Cyprus. Let's go plant those trees.

13:15And speaking of planting trees, recent reporting from the World Bank finds forest areas in several

13:21countries, including the U.S., are sprouting up. A look at that data finds America, alongside India,

13:28have planted enough forests that they would cover Bangladesh in an unbroken canopy of leaves.

13:33Great Britain has nearly three times as much forest as it did at the start of the 20th century.

13:38China's forests have increased about 607,000 square kilometers since 1992,

13:44and the European Union has added an area equivalent to the size of Cambodia to its woodlands.

13:50That report comes as additional research finds the world's trees have sucked about 200 million metric

13:56tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere from 2011 to 2020. Researchers say that number is only a

14:03fraction of the 53.8 billion tons of greenhouse gases emitted in 2022. But industry analysts suggest it

14:11may be a sign the world's woodlands might be in better shape than we think, despite numerous reports of

14:17global deforestation due to wildfires and logging. Joining us now to discuss is Congressman Bruce Westerman,

14:23chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources.

14:26Well, good to be with you, Christina, and kudos on your Latin pronunciations and your leaf physiology

14:33there. You were doing a great job. I'm trying. I really am. Difficult words there. I want to talk

14:39about this reforestation, though. What does this reporting tell us about the health of our world's

14:45forests? Is it all doom and gloom or is it looking brighter? I think overall the world's forests are

14:53looking brighter. We've still got a lot of work we need to do, but you highlighted here in the U.S.

14:58how our forests are much better. We have more forest land than we had. Even in 1900, there's more

15:05forests here today, and that's because of the conservation efforts that we've done here in the

15:10U.S. I'm not surprised by the report that you cited because there has been a concerted effort around

15:16the world to create more forests, and we just need to make those forests healthier, especially here in the U.S.

15:22So we are seeing more forests, but I think another problem that we run into is just preserving those

15:29forests. So what can be done in order to keep them around? Well, I'm going to call a technical foul here

15:36on the word preserve because we can't really preserve our forests. We can conserve them, but they're living,

15:42active organisms, and when we try to preserve them, we get into trouble, and that's been a mindset that has

15:48caused our forests not to be healthy. Forests continually grow, and they compete for light.

15:55They compete for water and nutrients, and if you have a hands-off approach, the forest is just going

16:01to become limited on one of those resources, and then the trees are going to start competing. They get weak,

16:07disease and insects come in, and we end up with catastrophic wildfire. If we will work with nature

16:12and manage the forest, do control burns, do thinning, utilize the resource that we've got, we can have

16:18much healthier forests, and they will stay around a lot longer. All right, Congressman, any final thoughts

16:24on reforestation, what we've spoken about today? We focus a lot on reforestation, but we should also

16:31focus on taking care of the forest that we have, and overall we're not doing a great job of that on our

16:37public lands, and that's why I continue to propose legislation and ideas to allow our land managers

16:42to go in and at a local level do what's best for the forest in those areas. We've lost 20% of our giant

16:49sequoia trees because we failed to manage those forests, and in the failure of management, we actually

16:56made a choice to exclude fire from an ecosystem that demands fire, and as a result, they became overgrown,

17:03and we saw wildfires in giant sequoias that we thought we would never see. So that's kind of

17:07the poster child of how not to do forest management and a call to do it better, and that's something

17:13that I work on every day here in Washington to make sure that our federal lands are going to be better

17:18in the future. Congressman Westerman, thanks for what you're doing in Washington and for coming on

17:22today. We appreciate it. Thank you, Christina. Good to be with you. Coming up, a campaign is underway in one

17:29South American country to curb the illegal trade of animals. Stay tuned. We'll have more on that story

17:35when we return.

18:05The North American Wolverine could make a return to the mountains of Colorado.

18:12State lawmakers recently proposed a bill aiming to reintroduce the threatened species

18:17after the local population went extinct in the early 1900s due to unregulated trapping and

18:23poisoning. That's according to Rocky Mountain Wild, a nonprofit group supporting the bill.

18:29The legislation effort, if passed, would allow Colorado Parks and Wildlife to begin a multi-year

18:34reintroduction process. The federal government listed the wolverine as a threatened species last

18:40November. Wildlife officials say wolverines are the largest species in the weasel family and weigh

18:46around 40 pounds. Ecuador's government is spearheading an effort to combat the illegal trade

18:52of animals. Tomas Santolin has more. South American nation Ecuador has a problem. It risks

18:59suffering new restrictions on the lucrative global fishing market if it doesn't crack down on illegal

19:04shark fin fishing by the end of March. One of the serious problems we have in Ecuador is the

19:10trafficking of shark fins. Shark fins catch a high price especially in Asia. Supposedly in the Asian

19:19market, apart from its demand as food, it has alleged healing and medical powers which encourage the

19:26trafficking. Ecuador is calling in help from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the World

19:34Conservation Society. Illegal wildlife trafficking and trade is the fourth largest illicit business

19:41worldwide and is linked to transnational organized crime and delinquency. Ecuadorian police just rescued

19:49this rare marguet, one of the most common pests in the illegal skin trade. At the core of illegal wildlife

19:55trafficking is a rapidly expanding global demand for bushmeat, traditionally eastern medicine ingredients,

20:02exotic pets and jewelry and furs from exotic wildlife, often taken from the rich Amazon region.

20:08Authorities report that all of Ecuador's ecosystems are affected by various kinds of wildlife crime.

20:15They're hoping the new stop campaign will be fat enforcement to preserve the country's priceless flora

20:21and fauna. For EarthX, I'm Tomas Santolin. Tomas Santolin, thank you. And before we leave you,

20:30an incredibly rare sighting leaves a group of scientists stunned. The team of researchers with the New England

20:36Aquarium in Boston said they spotted a gray whale, a species that vanished from the Atlantic Ocean more than 200

20:44years ago, swimming in the waters off Massachusetts in early March. According to a news release,

20:49aquarium scientists say they were flying about 30 miles south of Nantucket when they saw the aquatic

20:55mammal repeatedly diving and resurfacing while appearing to feed. The aquarium says gray whales are regularly

21:02spotted in the waters off the North Pacific Ocean and disappeared from the Atlantic Ocean in the 18th

21:07century. However, scientists added in the last 15 years, there have been five gray whale sightings in

21:13the Atlantic and Mediterranean waters, including off the coast of Florida at the end of last year.

21:19Some scientists are attributing these possible new migration patterns to warming sea temperatures.

21:24They say in recent years, the Northwest Passage, a sea route connecting the Pacific and Atlantic

21:28oceans through the islands of northern Canada in the Arctic Ocean, has been regularly ice-free during the summer months,

21:35allowing gray whales into areas the species hasn't roamed in centuries.

21:40That's it for this edition of EarthX News. Please join us again next week. I'm Christina Thompson.

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