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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Higher utility bills. Rising home insurance costs. Damage from floods, wildfires and hurricanes. Climate change is hitting Americans’ bank accounts, and older adults are particularly at risk. -
Helene is dumping rain across the Southeast, after coming ashore as a powerful Category 4 storm. Abnormally warm water in the Gulf of Mexico helped it rapidly intensify and suck up moisture. -
We asked the NPR audience to share stories of loved ones they've lost to extreme weather, such as hurricanes, wildfires, floods and heat waves. Here's what we heard.
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High tide floods – when water collects in streets or even seeps into buildings on days without rain – are increasingly common in coastal areas as sea levels rise, a new report warns. -
The financial cards are stacked against many renters who survive hurricanes, floods, wildfires and other major weather disasters. The long-term effects can be devastating. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting a record number of hurricanes this season.
