Narwhals are moonlighting as climate
scientists. A 91year-old pulled off a
jaw-dropping agedefying feet in an
ambulance powered by sunshine. Rise up
sunshine. I'm Koi Wire. 10 minutes big
world. Let's get you your news. We begin
in London with some uplifting health
news that really is a breath of fresh
air. A new study suggests the British
capital's efforts to cut vehicle
pollution in recent years may be helping
children's lungs grow healthier.
Researchers focused on the city's ultra
low emission zone introduced in central
London in 2019. Drivers of vehicles that
don't meet strict emission standards
have to pay a daily charge. The idea
being to put the brakes on tailpipe
pollution. The study tracked thousands
of kids in London and nearby Luton over
several years. Before the clean air zone
began, London's kids had higher exposure
to traffic pollution and lower average
lung function. But over the next four
years, between 2018 and 2022,
researchers observed a 5% drop in
children with clinically impaired lung
function in London. In Luton, which
didn't have a clean air zone, but did
make other changes like adding bike
paths and lowering speed limits, the
rate fell 2%. Researchers say this is
the first evidence that clean air zones
may actually help child development.
That matters because lungs do most of
their growing while we're young. If they
don't fully develop by early adulthood,
the risk rises later in life for
conditions including asthma, emphyma,
and chronic bronchitis. So, this isn't
just about cleaner air today. It could
mean healthier lungs for decades.
Now to Nepal where nearly a week after
catastrophic flooding tore through
Himalayan communities, the search for
the missing is becoming a race against
both time and terrain. As of this
taping, more than 12,200 people have
died. Nearly 4,000 are still missing.
Relief organizations are helping more
than 80,000 residents who've been
displaced. The United Nations says some
of the hardest hit areas are still
unable to even be contacted. Rescue
crews are navigating destroyed roads,
unstable mountain sides while families
wait for answers. And in a place where
some communities can only be reached
from the sky, helicopter crews have
become a lifeline. Our Anderson Cooper
caught up with one trailblazing pilot
helping lead that mission. Nepal's first
female helicopter captain, Captain Priya
Adekari.
>> It's a small place where so many people
went missing. It's extraordinary that
you I mean the the valley is is so close
and you are flying through this. It's
extraordinary.
>> Just imagine 20 helicopters flying on
that valley. Yeah. Continuously talking
with each other. That is actually a
little bit of pressure to to navigate
and to radio at the same time and to
know where who is doing where and we
going to the same place evacuating from
the same place like five or six
helicopters landing. So we need to talk
with each other so frequently. Yeah.
That is actually it.
>> And now I mean you are landing in places
where the ground is like liquid cement.
>> Some of the places you have to be very
careful because the helicopter might
sink in.
>> It looks from the air I imagine like to
a to a novice it looks like oh it's
solid ground. It's concrete.
>> No it's not concrete. This thing that
happened it's bigger than the earthquake
we had in 2015.
>> Um in during the earthquake time it was
in in the different places of the
Kathmandu war in Nepal. This is like in
a small valley where so many people have
lost life but they
>> the smile I have is for the survivors. I
don't know how they survived. Every time
I go in land I see people around. I'm
like waving at them and saying like you
survived. You know the rescues that I'm
doing people lying down inside my
helicopter trying to open their eyes. I
smile at them and say like you survived.
>> Pop quiz hot shot. A narwhal's famous
tusk is made up of what? bone, ivory,
keratin, or pixie dust.
If you said ivory, you can toot your own
horn. Narwhal tus are actually overgrown
teeth. Did you know? And they can grow
up to 10 ft long and contain more than
10 million nerve endings. Narwhals are
known as the unicorns of the sea. But
scientists are discovering they may also
make pretty incredible oceanographers.
These elusive Arctic whales are helping
scientists collect data on the crucial
ocean currents of a remote and hard to
study corner of the planet, the rugged
coast of East Greenland. Scientists
fitted six narwhals with satellite
transmitting sensors and tracked them
for three years as they recorded things
like water temperature and salinity in
remote Greenland fjords. And the data
are helping scientists better understand
something called Atlantification. That's
when warmer, saltier Atlantic water
pushes farther into Arctic waters. And
that matters because warmer ocean water
can accelerate the melting of glaciers,
which then contributes to rising sea
levels. Scientists hope this new data
will help them better understand the
planet's ice sheet. If anybody tells you
you're too old to chase a big dream,
let's introduce them to Greybeard. Dale
Sanders is 91 years old, and he just
became the oldest person ever to
complete the entire Appalachin Trail.
That's roughly 2200 miles stretching
from Georgia all the way to Maine. He
began his journey last September and
finished at top Maine's highest
mountain, Mount Kataden on Monday. This
wasn't Sanders first attempt at the
trail.
>> There is a huge, huge difference between
hiking the trail at 82 years old and at
91. Huge difference. But it is possible
cuz I'm proving that
>> it is a dangerous hike. Sanders says he
fell 71 times. One fall sent him to the
hospital, but Greybeard kept going. I
had a chance to learn more about this
trail on my own hike. Check this one
out.
>> It kills you physically, and you're not
sleeping well and you're getting bit by
bugs, ripped open feet. You just keep
hiking through it.
>> Hiking like this for 6 hours would be a
tall task for most. But then there are
people who hike this thing for 6 months.
That's just mindblowing. You see this
white blaze, you know you're on track.
>> That white blaze is the iconic marking
of the Appalachian Trail, and it guides
hikers along this 2,000mi contiguous
footpath running from Springer Mountain,
Georgia, to Maine's Mount Kataden. I've
hiked only a tiny sliver of it today.
>> But I want to know more about the trail
and the unique individuals like Matt,
trail name Road Soda, who drop
everything to conquer it. You do start
to think like, why am I still doing
this?
>> At hikers spend most nights in tents,
but hostiles like this allow them to
rest up and reconnect.
>> You have traies out here. It's a trail
family and usually just formed by the
people that are doing the same miles as
you couple nights in a row. That's kind
of how you create friends.
>> I love this man.
>> You don't see him for a couple days and
then when you see him again, it's like
you found your long lost friend again.
You develop bonds through shared
adversity. That's just it's pretty
incredible.
>> Throughhikers suffer through freezing
cold, searing heat, rain, wind,
loneliness, exhaustion, and lots of
pain.
>> It's a lovely shade of lilac.
>> A little ibuprofen. The KG tape actually
helped a lot.
>> My knees have hurt pretty much the
entire time.
>> Three out of four throughhikers don't
even make it to Maine. But those who
push through the pain discover joy,
pride, and maybe a new outlook on their
planet and fellow humans.
>> There's this like really, really strong
community.
>> Everybody's so on your side all the
time.
>> Every memory resurfaces out here cuz you
just have so much time and you just look
out and just see how beautiful our
planet is from a different angle.
>> There is hope.
>> 4 months after we met him, Road Soda and
his traile finally reached the top of
Mount Katag.
>> Oh my god. The end of one journey and
perhaps the beginning of another.
>> As rough as this can be, I don't want to
leave this life behind.
>> Today's story getting a 10 out of 10. An
ambulance that runs on sunshine
connecting healthc care with communities
in Kenya. A team of 23 Dutch students
called Solar Team Einhovven tested a
prototype solarp powered medical clinic
named Stella Juva. The vehicle carries
equipment that can include ultrasound
machines, portable X-rays, and other
basic diagnostic tools to rural
communities far from health facilities
and unreliable electricity. The vehicle
drove more than 800 km, about 500 miles
through Kenya. The student team says the
prototype navigated rough roads and
unpaved roads successfully. So from
testing in Kenya, we gathered that
Stella is able to handle off-road
terrain and being able to drive up to
hundreds of kilometers. What we also
gathered is that Stella gathers more
energy from the sun than it uses with
all its medical equipment on board,
meaning that we can deliver continuous
healthcare. The nearly 3,000lb vehicle
is said to be an early demonstration
project with more testing ahead. But for
communities with a lack of access to
health care, this solar-p powered
ambulance could be a link to a brighter
future. Students looked at a problem.
Instead of saying somebody should fix
that, they started building something.
That is what we call a 10 out of 10. All
right, superstars. It is shout out time.
This one goes to Mrs. Devoid at Murray
Middle School in Wilmington, North
Carolina, who sent this incredible
collection of art and cards and
messages. Hi, Dora. Uh yeah, this one
that's that's that's that's upside down,
but that's me. Thank you guys so much
for making us a part of your day. You
made our day. Stay curious, stay kind,
shine on, sunshine. I'm Koi Wire, and we
are CNN 10.