STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
We've been asking you to share stories about the climate. That's part of the way the news works on NPR. We give you information and also sometimes get information from you. We're all figuring this out together. Over the summer, we asked NPR listeners to tell us of loved ones who died in extreme weather. An NPR climate reporter Rebecca Hersher has been reading and listening to the responses. Good morning.
REBECCA HERSHER, BYLINE: Good morning.
INSKEEP: OK. So who answered this call?
HERSHER: You know, we heard from people all over the U.S. - folks who have lost parents, friends, spouses, in many cases, to floods, hurricanes, heat waves, wildfires. Flood-related deaths were the most common that we heard about. A listener shared that he lost his father during a flash flood in New Jersey two years ago. Another shared a story about the death of a beloved uncle in another flash flood that was out in California. And, you know, we know from science, from scientists, that that kind of flooding is getting more common in a lot of the U.S. because climate change is causing really heavy rain. So those stories, they really underscore the human toll, the human losses associated with that.
INSKEEP: You also mentioned heat waves. What did you hear about them?
HERSHER: So heat is really, really dangerous, and deaths related to heat are undercounted in the U.S. That's something that me and my colleagues at the NPR climate desk have been reporting on a lot this year.
INSKEEP: Yeah.
HERSHER: The reason is that there's no national system in place for noting the role that heat plays in a death. So for example, if somebody has a heart attack that's triggered by heat stress, the death certificate in a lot of places will just say cause of death - heart failure.
INSKEEP: Oh. And so it's hard to measure objectively, or according to official statistics, that heat was part of the story there?
HERSHER: Exactly. Exactly. But we did hear from listeners who have lost loved ones to heat. A listener shared that she lost her father during record-breaking heat in Phoenix last year. Another wrote in about the anguish of losing his father-in-law, who died working a construction job during a heat wave. And we interviewed a man named Yonatan Vasquez earlier this summer, whose brother Wilmer died after working outside as a roofer in South Florida last year.
YONATAN VASQUEZ: People - they don't realize how hot it is because when they work, it's in air conditioning. When they go to their car it's air conditioning. And they don't understand when you feel it for 10 to 12 hours a day how much your body has to work.
INSKEEP: What he's saying there sounds like a warning. Like, don't repeat what happened to me. Do you hear other warnings from people?
HERSHER: Yeah, totally. We actually asked people, you know, is there anything you think people don't understand about the experience of losing a loved one this way? And a fair number of people basically said, you know, be really careful because this can happen to anyone. Like, this danger can feel really distant when you just see a number and a headline, you know, a death toll. But extreme weather is getting more common, and the people who die are really just normal people.
INSKEEP: So what can the rest of us do to reduce the risk?
HERSHER: Well, you know, most, if not all, of these deaths are preventable. So, like, better evacuation plans before hurricanes and wildfires, better warnings about flash floods, shade and rest for outdoor workers - those can all save lives, you know? But also cutting greenhouse gas emissions 'cause, of course, climate change is caused by humans.
INSKEEP: Sure.
HERSHER: And so reducing carbon dioxide, that can save lives as well.
INSKEEP: Over time. Rebecca Hersher from NPR's climate desk. Thanks so much.
HERSHER: Thanks.
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