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Science Friday

Degrees of Change: Changing Behavior. July 10, 2020, Part 1

Science Friday

Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Science, Life Sciences, Wnyc, Natural Sciences, Friday

4.4 • 6.3K Ratings

🗓️ 10 July 2020

⏱️ 46 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Over the past months, our Degrees of Change series has looked at some of the many ways our actions affect the climate, and how our changing climate is affecting us—from the impact of the fashion industry on global emissions to the ways in which coastal communities are adapting to rising tides. But beyond the graphs and figures, how do you get people to actually take action? And are small changes in behavior enough—or is a reshaping of society needed to deal with the climate crisis? Climate journalist Eric Holthaus and Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, founder of the Urban Ocean Lab, talk with Ira about creating a climate revolution, the parallels between the climate crisis and other conversations about social structures like Black Lives Matter, and the challenges of working towards a better future in the midst of the chaos of 2020. Then Matthew Goldberg, a researcher at the Yale Project on Climate Communication, shares some tips for having difficult climate conversations with friends and family.  More than 200 scientists this week wrote a letter to the World Health Organization (WHO), reporting there’s a good chance that COVID-19 can be spread through the air. While the WHO has previously said most transmission happens from direct contact with droplets from an infected person’s cough or sneeze, these experts say the virus can actually stay suspended in the air. If this is true, it’s bad news for people who gather in crowded, poorly ventilated spaces. A lot of questions remain, however, about if this is accurate.  Joining Ira to talk about this story, and more is Nsikan Akpan, a science editor at National Geographic, based in Washington, D.C.

Transcript

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0:00.0

This is Science Friday. I'm Ira Flato. Later this hour, we'll be talking about moving towards action to deal with the changing climate.

0:08.8

First, a large group of scientists came out this week and said that COVID-19 can be transmitted through the air.

0:16.1

So what does this mean for those of us trying to stay safe? Joining us today to talk about the story and other news of this week is Sikon Akpan,

0:25.2

science editor at National Geographic in Washington.

0:28.9

Welcome to Science Friday.

0:30.3

Thank you for having me.

0:31.6

Nice to have you.

0:32.5

Let's start with this disturbing and sort of confusing news this week, right, that COVID-19 might be airborne.

0:39.8

So, yeah, it's amazing what a pandemic and a story in the New York Times can do. On Independence Day,

0:45.3

Apurva Mandevali broke the news that a letter had been signed by these 239 scientists, and they're

0:51.8

making a compelling argument that airborne transmission for COVID-19

0:56.2

is happening.

0:57.2

I mean, I think the thing that is really interesting about this letter is that infectious

1:02.1

disease researchers have been arguing about airborne spread for decades, right?

1:06.7

So when people sneeze or cough, they release a spray of respiratory droplets that come in these

1:12.5

different sizes.

1:13.5

We have the larger droplets that everyone's talking about.

1:16.9

They kind of fall immediately, sort of like raindrops.

1:20.4

And so that's why experts were always telling us to beware surfaces whenever somebody sneezes

1:24.8

around them.

1:26.3

Airborne transmission refers specifically to smaller droplets

1:30.0

or aerosols. Those are typically under, you know, five to 10 microns. What we know about aerosols

...

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