I'm Coy Wire.

This is CNN 10 and we are back.

Hope you all had an awesome summer.

Thanks to all of you kept in touch on social media.

I am pumped up ready to rock this new season with all of you.

We are right here for you to break down the most important news as it happens from social studies to science on and on.

And we have some brand new segments lined up these sleeves for you this season as well.

So let's get this show on the road. Shall we?

With all of us being back together again, let's take a theme for the day.

How about returning?

And as students across the country head back to school this year, did you know that a growing number are going to be returning to a four-day school week?

In fact, 24 states, 850 districts in the United States will have a shorter week this year.

Why, you ask?

Well, schools are adopting this method to help deal with budgetary constraints and staffing shortages.

They're also hoping a four-day school week will help students feel less burned out and more focused.

But there are downsides as well, including studies showing lower test scores, worse academic comprehension and lower graduation rates.

Let's break down this debate with a little more specific data.

Could a four-day school week become the norm?

Well, more school districts are trying it out.

24 states have at least one school district using a shortened week.

Some 850 districts in all.

That's a 31% increase since 2019.

Shorter weeks can help schools with budgetary constraints, staff shortages and student attendance.

That flexibility can increase teacher morale and decrease burnout in the classroom.

Four-day weeks have traditionally been more common in rural areas.

Now they're gaining steam in metro areas like Denver, Phoenix and San Antonio as well.

But research shows there are drawbacks to a shortened school week.

One study found lower math achievement in some districts the four-day weeks, but the ill effects of banished in districts with longer school days.

A second study found higher absenteeism and lower on time graduation rates compared with five-day students.

Shorter school weeks can also be headed for parents, costing families an extra $5000 to $9000 a year in child care.

As more school districts shorten the week, you can expect to hear more about this debate.

10-second trivia: which of these weather patterns is a "warm phase" signaled by weaker trade winds and warmer ocean water?

Nor Easter, El Nino, La Nina or Derecho?

El Nino, Spanish for the little boy, is this irregular weather pattern that occurs in the Pacific Ocean.

Sticking to our returning theme, this summer brought back some really warm temperatures in many parts of the country.

The summer of 2023 in parts of the nation has seen record-high temperatures at times and some projections say we could see a new record for the warmest year ever recorded.

A big reason: weather models are showing one of the strongest El Ninos in decades.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA announced the presence of those El Nino condictions on June 8.

Years where El Ninos are present tend to be hotter as warm ocean waters that originate in the Pacific Ocean can influence global weather patterns.

These events happen every 2 to 7 years and they vary in intensity.

Scientists are still searching for why this happens, but the pattern can last for weeks or months.

More now from meteorologist Jennifer Gray, Mama of one of our very own CNN tenors.

We see you, Kaden.

We've heard so much talk about El Nino.

But what is it?

In fact, it's a weather phenomenon that happens between the Pacific Ocean and the atmosphere.

It can have an influence on the temperature and the weather all over the world.

In the spring time, the trade winds start to relax and in a normal year, they come back during the Asia monsoonin the summer;

during an El Nino year, they don't, in fact, some years, the trade winds can even reverse.

That has a huge impact on the Pacific Ocean.

During a normal year, warm water is pooled on the west side of the ocean, cooler water on the east side that results in cooler waters off the coast of California and warmer waters in the Western Pacific;

during an El nino year that thermo cline tilt goes away and so warm water is spilled all the way over to the east side of the Pacific that increases convection.

It also brings thunderstorms to the coast of California and droughts to the western side of the Pacific.

We all know that El Nino will impact the world.

The only question is how will it affect you?

This fall will be a big test for another type of return the return of workers to the workplace.

Major companies are asking remote workers to come on back as many as 1 million US workers are facing return orders.

Even Zoom, the company that powered remote, working for millions is asking its employees to get on back to the cubicle.

But even with all these changing mandates, the traditional office space isn't what it used to be.

Once these buildings and skyscrapers were full of busy workers; now, after the pandemic, less than 50% of office workers are going back in person.

And that's a problem for the people that own these buildings as you can imagine. without as many tenants to pay rent, many of these landlords are having to get creative.

Our CNN business and politics correspondent Vanessa has more.

They're statuesque, vast and staggering and they're empty skyscrapers and office buildings once stacked high with businesses are experiencing high vacancy rates in the US.

Nearly 19% 5.5% higher than before the pandemic.

The pandemic emptied offices around the country today.

The number of people returning to in person work is less than 50% in 10 major metro areas, forcing companies to rethink physical office space.

Half of the biggest global companies say they'll need less real estate in the next three years leaving landlords with loans to pay in a bind.

Stephen dolls runs the leasing at Sl Green.

New York City's largest commercial landlord with more than 30 million square feet of space to rent.

The collapsing demand for office space means their tenant vacancy rate shot up from 3% pre pandemic to 10% today.

That calls for some creativity.

You can build a set in here.

You can have a fight scene in here.

L Green is now working with backlot.

A company that connects landlords at 332 buildings across New York and New Jersey with film and TV companies.

This episode of Law and Order was filmed in this vacant office in midtown Manhattan, the watcher on Netflix and these east side offices, I think people are starting to look holistically at how they can support a revenue stream.

This year.

ESL Green says it will earn $3 million from film and TV shoots.

It's really helped mitigate the loss of income during the down time periods.

Empty office buildings could be turned into residential, a big need.

This project in Washington DC, once an office building is being turned into apartments, but that's not an easy quick fix process.

Less than 1% of apartments nationwide are converted from commercial properties and across the river in Arlington, Virginia, the city is trying to get ahead of its empty office space problem at 22%.

I'm sitting right today in Northeastern's DC campus.

Last year, a university was not allowed to take up space in an office building.

Thanks to New city zoning laws that's now possible along with seven new types of commercial businesses like animal boarding, hydroponic farms and Pickle Ball Vanessa Ivic CNN, Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey.

Today's story getting a 10 out of 10 is about some puppy pals named Brenda and Linda, two stray pups who were the best of friends at the Minneapolis animal shelter.

Well, when they got separated, something do on adorable happened, Brenda took matters into her own paws climbing a 5 ft concrete wall to join her buddy.

That's the type of puppy love that lasts forever and get this the shelter.

They're only gonna let people adopt them if they're a package deal.

All right.

That's about all we have time for, for today.

It's so good to be back with all of you.

And I can't wait until you see some of our new segments this year.

One of them has to do with all the teachers out there.

So teachers stay on your toes and keep on shining.

Now, it's time for my favorite part of the day.

My first shout out of the school year goes to Austin, Texas Canyon vista, middle school.

Rise up.

Thanks for subscribing and commenting on our CNN 10 youtube page.

We hope you and everyone watching around the world have a wonderful one.

I'm Coy Wire and we are CNN.