Rebecca Hersher

California is in the grips of an atmospheric river that’s causing flooding all over the state. Climate change might be intensifying storms like it —but scientists are still working out the details. Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Climate change is making powerful hurricanes more common. That may require adding a new official designation for the more intense storms, a new study suggests.

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.

Major cities across China are sinking, putting a substantial portion of the country's rapidly urbanizing population in harm's way in the coming decades, according to a sweeping new analysis by Chinese scientists.

Nearly half of the major cities in China are sinking, a new study finds. Subsidence exacerbates flooding related to sea level rise from climate change. Parts of Shanghai have subsided up to 9 feet in the last century. Johannes Eisele / AFP via Getty Images

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.

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.

People in the streets of Rom in June 2022. Heat-related deaths in Europe have increased by about 30% in the last 20 years, according to a new report.

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST: Climate change is causing Europe to heat up more quickly than any other continent, and that heat is deadly, according to a new report by European climate officials.