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A Strong Cyclone Approaches Bangladesh; Youth Sports Play Ball With Social Distancing; New Study Suggests Nocturnal Insects Play A Key Role In Pollination
Aired May 19, 2020 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: This is CNN 10 and I`m Carl Azuz. On the heels of yesterday`s report about a tropical storm off the U.S. east coast, we have
a bigger more dangerous storm to tell you about today. This one`s in the Bay of Bengal, in the northern Indian Ocean, and it could cause
catastrophic problems for northeastern India and the nation of Bangladesh.
It`s name is Cyclone Amphan. It`s been hovering at or near the strongest classification of hurricane strength. The good news is it`s expected to
lose some of that strength as it approaches land so that could make it less destructive than it is now.
The bad news is Amphan is expected to make landfall in a part of the world that is not well equipped to deal with it. The storm is headed toward poor
areas with a lot of people and not a lot of good infrastructure like transportation and communication networks. It`s expected to make landfall
near the Ganges River delta where the Ganges and the Brahmaputra Rivers empty into the Bay of Bengal and that could bring major storm surges, a
rise in seawater levels blown ashore by a cyclone. Natural disasters are common in this part of the world.
But this could be the first time a powerful storm hits India and Bangladesh during a disease pandemic. Both countries are seeing increasing cases and
deaths from COVID-19 despite extending their lockdowns until the end of this month. So first responders could be called on to both rescue people
and help protect them from coronavirus which will be a concern especially in crowded evacuation centers.
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PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I`m Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for CNN weather and a menacing Tropical Cyclone Amphan, now equivalent to a
Category 5 hurricane if it were into the Atlantic Ocean. But of course, Bay of Bengal, very vulnerable region, 260 kilometer per hour winds gusting to
315 kilometers per hour and certainly a very slow moving system and notice this track.
West Bengal, Bangladesh, we`re talking to you, especially Wednesday into Thursday. This storm system is poised to weaken on approach towards land
but even if it does such a tremendously large system and such a strong system that we do know the impacts that even a Category 2 or a Category 3
equivalent could be significant.
Now look at the population of Bangladesh, 170 million people compare that to the United States about 320 million people except Bangladesh, roughly
the size of an average U.S. state like the state of Iowa but again with half the population of the U.S. packed into that region.
So that really makes it that more susceptible here to causing a lot of damage, a lot of lives lost potentially and of course (inaudible) some 700
rivers and tributaries across this region, some 24,000 kilometers of waterways. Landfall at this point looks to be somewhere on the coast there
near Kolkata that would begin Wednesday afternoon or Wednesday evening but certainly a story we`ll follow here on CNN over the next several days.
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AZUZ: Another way Spain is easing those measures is its government is allowing professional sports teams to get back to practice even if they`re
in a region that`s still shutdown. They have to train in groups of 10 people or fewer though.
There are signs of this opening up in the U.S. as well. Live golf returned to American televisions on Sunday when (ph) a charity event took place.
Another is planned for next Sunday though you won`t see any spectators yet.
President Donald Trump says sports are good for the nation`s psyche. That they`re missed, wanted and needed and that`s something being echoed at the
youth levels too. But when they get going again across the country and this won`t happen all at once, they`ll likely look a lot different than they did
before the coronavirus pandemic struck.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Summer and kids playing baseball. They go together. That was until the pandemic shutdown nearly all youth sports but in Missouri it
was game on. But there were changes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s weird.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it definitely doesn`t feel normal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take the baseballs. Wiped down with bleach water every half inning and the dugouts, sprayed down after each game. And teammates
had to stand six feet apart. These yellow flags that marks their spots. Parents and fans, they have to social distance as well, and expect to see
similar precautions in different youth sports.
Here`s how USA swimming is telling its 2,800 teams to set up for meets and still maintain social distancing. High fives, fist bumps and post game
handshakes, all a thing of the past. That`s according to Skip Gilbert (ph), he`s the CEO for U.S. Youth Soccer which has almost 3 million registered
players.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The social distancing is key.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said most of their seasons will start back up in June so he`s ordered coaches and organizers to create new, COVID oriented safety
checklists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you get home, you`re cleaning your boots. You wash your hands. You`re washing your uniform. You`re doing all of the things
just to ensure that if there was any contaminates that got on anything that you had brought to that field to play, that you`re making sure you`re
removing it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even with all that, plenty of parents are telling us they`re not letting their kids play team sports right now. But then there
are those like Jill Dalione (ph). Her 12 year old son, Peyton (ph), he`s supposed to attend a Pisces Soccer Academy this summer. Why are you so
comfortable letting Peyton (ph) play?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we`re OK. We`re doing our, you know, washing our hands and keeping our hands away from our face. Maybe if we - - even if
we came into contact with someone and we had to quarantine ourselves for 14 days. That`s something we could do.
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AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Salt Marsh, Atlas and Indian Meal are all types of what? Vultures, moths, herbs or peat. These are all types of moths, insects
that often fly by night.
Those are just three of the 160,000 species of moths and new research suggests they may play an important role in pollination. How do scientists
know this? A few years ago in Norfolk, England, researchers swabbed more than 800 moths and then studied the pollen on them. It wasn`t a direct
study of pollination, the process that fertilizes plants and produces seeds, but instead a look at how pollen is transported.
That`s an important early part of the pollination process. Scientists found that more than 45 percent of the moths they studied had visited dozens of
different plant species during the night, including some that bees and butterflies didn`t visit during the day.
And researchers say this adds to the importance of conserving the insects because like bee populations, moth populations are decreasing worldwide.
Scientists say to address that, people should reduce the use of pesticides when possible and make sure that moths have a food source and an
undisturbed place to live. Their research was published in the "Journal Biology Letters".
Last story today is about a dog named Moose who despite a possible identity crisis has just received an honorary doctorate during a virtual
commencement ceremony at Virginia Tech. Moose has been working there as a therapy animal since 2014. He`s one of four dogs that have participated in
more than 7,500 counseling sessions with students. His owner also works at Virginia Tech as a counselor but it`s Moose who just got his degree in
veterinary medicine.
Of course he`d never tell the undergrads to "Mooseover". The "Labrodoctor" who just got his "dogploma" is an excellent "houndselor" who`s on "paw" to
help students "turn tail" on whatever`s "dogging" them to "retriever" a sense of "boneified" well "barking".
I`m Carl "AMoose", I mean Azuz for CNN 10. That dog might have been a Labrador but it`s the Huskies we`ve got today watching from Elgin High
School in Elgin, Oregon. We`ll see you all tomorrow.
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