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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Hurricane Iota was the most powerful hurricane ever recorded this late in the Atlantic hurricane season. This year has already broken the record for the most named storms, and the season isn't over.
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Most landlords are not required to disclose if a property is in a flood plain or has flooded before. That's a big problem in cities where climate change is driving more frequent and severe floods.
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About 15 million properties in the U.S. are prone to flooding, but patchwork and ineffective disclosure laws mean most people get little to no information about flood risk before they move.
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It's the first confirmed case of coronavirus reinfection in the U.S. The case underscores that everyone should be social distancing and wearing masks, including COVID-19 survivors.
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What has been the impact been on climate science after President Trump decided to pull out of the Paris agreement on climate change? The U.S. will be officially out of the agreement on Nov. 4.
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More frequent and severe wildfires and hurricanes have caused billions of dollars of damage in the U.S. Climate experts warn the costs to the economy and to individual families are only rising.
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Hurricane Laura hit an area with dozens of major refineries and chemical plants, which emitted millions of pounds of extra air pollution.
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Hurricane Laura hit an area known for its refineries and chemical plants. They released millions of pounds of air pollution when they shut down, and many air monitors are not functioning.
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Hurricanes, wildfires, heat waves and disease outbreaks are all a preview of our hotter future. Dramatically cutting greenhouse gas emissions would help.
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Hurricane Laura rapidly intensified before it made landfall. Abnormally hot water in the Gulf of Mexico helped it gain power.
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Millions of home listings on Realtor.com now include information about climate change-driven flood risk. Other real estate sites are holding off.
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Focus more on water, less on wind and beware the cone of uncertainty. Here's a simple guide for understanding hurricane risks.