What's changing in Earth's core? - Shannon Odell

The Earth's atmosphere is experiencing significant leakage, with hydrogen atoms escaping into space and methane emissions from abandoned oil wells posing a serious climate threat. A hydrogen atom, which has traveled through various environments on Earth for millions of years, recently overcame the planet's gravitational pull, contributing to the estimated 90 tons of material that leak out of the atmosphere daily. While the loss of hydrogen is not an immediate concern, the methane emissions from abandoned wells are alarming, as they can drastically affect the climate within a decade.

In the U.S., over 3 million abandoned oil wells emit approximately 280,000 metric tons of methane annually, equivalent to burning 10 billion pounds of coal. These unsealed wells also risk contaminating local groundwater with toxic gases. Although regulations exist requiring oil companies to plug defunct wells, many companies avoid these responsibilities due to the high costs involved. The problem is exacerbated by active oil and gas production, which emits methane at a rate 28 times higher than that of abandoned wells.

Experts suggest that addressing this issue will require government intervention, including imposing high fees on methane emissions and enforcing stricter oversight on well plugging. A long-term solution involves reducing reliance on fossil fuels, with solar energy being one potential alternative. As the climate crisis intensifies, the urgency to tackle these leaks and their implications for the environment becomes increasingly critical.

Explore the science of why Earth’s atmosphere is losing hydrogen, and find out what other leaks could affect life on our planet.--A hydrogen atom is traveling high within the outermost layer of Earth’s atmosphere. This particular atom first entered the exosphere millions of years ago, but today it overcomes Earth’s gravitational pull and escapes, joining the roughly 90 tons of material that leak out of our atmosphere each day. Should we be worried about these leaks? Shannon Odell digs into our planet’s imperfect plumbing.Lesson by Shannon Odell, directed by Eva Münnich, Strange Beast.This video made possible in collaboration with Speed & ScaleLearn more about how TED-Ed partnerships work: https://bit.ly/TEDEdPartnersA special thanks to Mary Kang and Jean-Baptiste Koehl who provided information and insights for the development of this video.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-s-happening-to-earth-s-core-shannon-odellDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-s-happening-to-earth-s-core-shannon-odell#digdeeperAnimator's website: https://www.studiocool.coolMusic: https://www.campstudio.co----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Carsten Tobehn, Katie Dean, Ezgi Yersu, Gerald Onyango, alessandra tasso, Doreen Reynolds-Consolati, Manognya Chakrapani, Ayala Ron, Eunsun Kim, Phyllis Dubrow, Ophelia Gibson Best, Paul Schneider, Joichiro Yamada, Henrique Cassús, Karthik Cherala, Clarence E. Harper Jr., Vignan Velivela, Ana Maria, Exal Enrique Cisneros Tuch, Tejas Dc, Khalifa Alhulail, Martin Stephen, Jose Henrique Leopoldo e Silva, Mandeep Singh, Abhijit Kiran Valluri, Morgan Williams, Devin Harris, Pavel Zalevskiy, Karen Goepen-Wee, Filip Dabrowski, Barbara Smalley, Megan Douglas, Tim Leistikow, Ka-Hei Law, Hiroshi Uchiyama, Mark Morris, Misaki Sato, EdoKun, SookKwan Loong, Bev Millar, Lex Azevedo, Michael Aquilina, Jason A Saslow, Yansong Li, Cristóbal Moenne, Dawn Jordan, Prasanth Mathialagan, Samuel Doerle, David Rosario and Dominik Kugelmann - they-them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices