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Environment
Talk

The Effects Of Climate Change Are Already Impacting North Carolinians

WUNC | By Stacia Brown,
Frank Stasio
Published October 22, 2020 at 12:08 PM EDT
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Carteret is one of the North Carolina counties that has seen an uptick in vibrio infections since 2007.
Carteret County Shore Protection Office

It’s estimated that annual average temperatures in North Carolina will rise between 2 and 5 degrees by the middle of this century, and 2019 was the warmest year on record for the state. This heat has already had a significant impact on farmworkers, who have reported noticing both an increase in temperatures outdoors while working and afterwards, in lodging that does not offer relief from evenings that are trending increasingly warmer. 

Host Frank Stasio talks to News and Observer reporter Aaron Sánchez-Guerra and Report for America fellow Adam Wagner about farmworkers and heat-related illness.

Sammy Fretwell, environmental reporter for The State in South Carolina, also joins Stasio to discuss an increase in reported vibrio bacteria cases. The toxic germ is still considered uncommon, but the increase in its presence in the Carolinas is related to warmer coastal water temperatures and rising sea levels. Each reporter is featured in the seven-part series, “Danger Beyond the Beach: Climate change and its toll on health in the Carolinas,” a partnership of The News and Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina; The State in Columbia, South Carolina; the Columbia Journalism School; and the Center for Public Integrity.

EnvironmentThe State of ThingsAaron Sanchez-GuerraAdam WagnerSammy FretwellNews and ObserverReport for AmericaThe StateDanger Beyond the BeachClimate ChangeColumbia Journalism SchoolCenter for Public IntegrityVibrioFarmworkerGlobal WarmingH2AMigrant Farmers
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Stacia Brown
Stacia L. Brown is a writer and audio storyteller who has worked in public media since 2016, when she partnered with the Association of Independents in Radio and Baltimore's WEAA 88.9 to create The Rise of Charm City, a narrative podcast that centered community oral histories. She has worked for WAMU’s daily news radio program, 1A, as well as WUNC’s The State of Things. Stacia was a producer for WUNC's award-winning series, Great Grief with Nnenna Freelon and a co-creator of the station's first children's literacy podcast, The Story Stables. She served as a senior producer for two Ten Percent Happier podcasts, Childproof and More Than a Feeling. In early 2023, she was interim executive producer for WNYC’s The Takeaway.
See stories by Stacia Brown
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio
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