Hawai’i Wildfires, Blue-Fin Tuna Science, Maine’s New Lithium Deposit. August 11, 2023, Part 1
Science Friday
Science Friday and WNYC Studios
4.4 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 11 August 2023
⏱️ 45 minutes
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| 0:00.0 | Listener supported WNYC Studios. |
| 0:08.8 | This is Science Friday. I'm John Dankoski. Later this hour, Ira Fleda will be here, |
| 0:14.5 | and he'll be talking tuna, bluefin tuna, to be exact, to find out how this globe-trotting |
| 0:19.4 | fish became a sought-after delicacy. |
| 0:22.1 | And we're taking a trip to Maine to learn about a newly discovered lithium deposit |
| 0:25.8 | and how scientists are chronicling the state's diverse bird species. |
| 0:30.9 | But first, wildfires have killed dozens of people on the Hawaiian island of Maui this week. |
| 0:36.5 | The fast-moving fires were driven by strong, |
| 0:38.8 | dry winds, and made worse by ongoing drought conditions there. Recovery could take years, |
| 0:44.5 | and officials say billions of dollars after countless homes, businesses, and entire |
| 0:48.9 | communities burned to the ground. So what do we know about the science behind these wildfires? |
| 0:55.5 | Here with this story and other science news of the week is Bethany Brookshire, freelance science writer and the author of the book |
| 1:00.4 | Pests, How Humans Created Animal Villains. Bethany, welcome back to Science Friday. Hey, thanks for |
| 1:06.5 | having me. So what do we know about what caused these fires in Maui? Yeah, no one really knows the exact |
| 1:12.7 | cause. What we do know is that they've been severely exacerbated by winds from Hurricane Dora. |
| 1:20.0 | Hurricane Dora is about several hundred miles away, but it's sent winds of more than 60 |
| 1:24.9 | miles an hour, which has really driven the burn and the spread |
| 1:28.5 | into towns and other communities. Now, Hawaii, like a lot of other places, does have wildfires, |
| 1:35.4 | but not large fires like this. It's a pretty humid place. Why is this changing now, Bethany? |
| 1:41.4 | Yeah, you know, I think a lot of people think, oh, California is the only |
| 1:44.6 | place with something like a fire season. Everywhere has seasons where fires are more likely than |
| 1:50.5 | others, but there are some ecosystems that are kind of adapted to burning and benefit from kind |
... |
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