Book Club Birds, Amazon Burning. August 23, 2019, Part 1

Science Friday

Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Life Sciences, Wnyc, Science, Friday, Natural Sciences

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🗓️ 23 August 2019

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“Bird-brain” has long been an insult meant to imply slow-wittedness or stupidity. But in reading Jennifer Ackerman’s The Genius of Birds, SciFri Book Club readers have been learning that birds often have wits well beyond ours—take the mockingbird’s capacity to memorize the songs of other birds, or the precise annual migrations of hummingbirds and Arctic terns. Or the New Caledonian crow, which make tools and solve puzzles that might mystify human children. UCLA pigeon researcher Aaron Blaisdell and University of Wisconsin neuroscientist Lauren Riters join Ira and producer Christie Taylor to talk about the brightest minds of the bird world, and the burning questions remaining about avian brains. The Brazilian rainforest is experiencing a record number of fires this year—an 83% increase over 2018. Since last week, smoke from an estimated 9,500 fires has blocked out the sun for thousands of miles, covering cities like São Paulo in a dark cloud. Environmental agencies and researchers suspect the fires are human caused, cattle ranchers and loggers who are looking to clear the land for their own use. Ryan Mandelbaum, science writer for Gizmodo, gives us a rundown of the unprecedented destruction currently underway, and other science headlines, in this week's News Roundup. Plus: In North Carolina, electric vehicle charging stations will start operating more like gas pumps. David Boraks, from WFAE 90.7 in Charlotte, tells Ira more in "The State Of Science."

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Science Friday. I'm Irafledo.
0:03.5	Ladies and gentlemen, the Amazon is burning. The Brazilian rainforest is experiencing a record
0:09.8	number of fires this year, and 83% increase over 2018. 70,000 fires. How do you set them that
0:18.8	fast? 70,000 have blocked out the sun for thousands of miles
0:22.2	covering cities like Sao Paulo in a dark cloud. Environmental agencies and researchers suspect the fires
0:29.6	have been set by people, cattle ranchers and loggers perhaps who are looking to clear the land to
0:34.9	grow cash crops. And they've been encouraged to do so by Brazilian President Bolsonaro,
0:40.8	who campaigned on a promise to help Brazil's economy
0:43.8	by exploring the Amazon's economic potential.
0:47.3	Joining us to tell us about this unprecedented burning of the Amazon rainforest,
0:51.9	as well as other short subjects in science,
0:55.0	is Ryan Mandelbaum,
0:59.6	science writer for Gizmodo. Welcome back, Ryan. It's good to be back, Ira. Let's talk about the Amazon. What's happening there right now? So the Amazon is burning at an alarming rate.
1:05.0	We're talking maybe a soccer pitch-sized area every few minutes. Eighty- 82% more fires than last year.
1:13.7	You know, this is more extreme than sort of 2016, which is an extreme case.
1:17.5	And as far as we know, it is due to sort of the business because of clearing of the land.
1:26.2	And, you know, Bolsonaro's government in you know bulsanaro's
1:28.1	government you know brazil's new president bolsanaro is uh... sort of
1:31.3	scaling back the enforcement of the illegal burning of the uh... of the
1:34.8	forest and it is encouraging businesses to then go in and then start clearing
1:37.9	what is essentially
1:39.2	the lungs of the planet
	...

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