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Rebecca Hersher
Rebecca Hersher (she/her) is a reporter on NPR's Science Desk, where she reports on outbreaks, natural disasters, and environmental and health research. Since coming to NPR in 2011, she has covered the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, embedded with the Afghan army after the American combat mission ended, and reported on floods and hurricanes in the U.S. She's also reported on research about puppies. Before her work on the Science Desk, she was a producer for NPR's Weekend All Things Considered in Los Angeles.
Hersher was part of the NPR team that won a Peabody award for coverage of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, and produced a story from Liberia that won an Edward R. Murrow award for use of sound. She was a finalist for the 2017 Daniel Schorr prize; a 2017 Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting fellow, reporting on sanitation in Haiti; and a 2015 NPR Above the Fray fellow, investigating the causes of the suicide epidemic in Greenland.
Prior to working at NPR, Hersher reported on biomedical research and pharmaceutical news for Nature Medicine.
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The Upper Midwest is grappling with devastating river flooding after record-breaking rain. Climate change makes heavy rain and severe floods more frequent in that part of the country.
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Climate change means more extreme weather across the U.S. That’s a challenge for weather forecasters.
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Multiple federal and state government agencies count the number of deaths from extreme floods, wildfires, heat waves and hurricanes. They don't always agree on which deaths should be counted.
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The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere hit an all time high in May. That trend must reverse in order to rein in climate change.
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting a record number of hurricanes this season.
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Heat-related deaths in Europe have increased at least 30% in the last 20 years, according to a new report by the European Union's climate and weather service.
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Global temperatures soared past previous records in 2023, according to new data from the European Union. Nations must slash fossil fuel emissions to avoid even higher temperatures, scientists warn.
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There are hundreds of U.S. neighborhoods where the population is declining due to flood risk, a new study suggests. Climate change drives flooding from heavy rain and sea level rise.
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The stakes have never been higher, as the planet rounds out its hottest year ever recorded. The U.N.'s secretary-general is challenging leaders to get serious about cutting planet-warming gasses.
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Climate change costs tens of billions of dollars each year, hurts Americans' health and disrupts everyday life, including how we work, eat, play and mourn, according to a major new assessment.