Lauren Sommer
Lauren Sommer covers climate change for NPR's Science Desk, from the scientists on the front lines of documenting the warming climate to the way those changes are reshaping communities and ecosystems around the world.
Prior to joining NPR, Sommer spent more than a decade covering climate and environment for KQED Public Radio in San Francisco. During her time there, she delved into the impacts of California's historic drought during dry years and reported on destructive floods during wet years, and covered how communities responded to record-breaking wildfires.
Sommer has also examined California's ambitious effort to cut carbon emissions across its economy and investigated the legacy of its oil industry. On the lighter side, she ran from charging elephant seals and searched for frogs in Sierra Nevada lakes.
She was also host of KQED's macrophotography nature series Deep Look, which searched for universal truths in tiny organisms like black-widow spiders and parasites. Sommer has received a national Edward R. Murrow for use of sound, as well as awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Based at NPR's San Francisco bureau, Sommer grew up in the West, minus a stint on the East Coast to attend Cornell University.
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It's looking like 2024 will be the hottest year since record-keeping began, unseating 2023 for the top spot. Climate change is playing a role, and scientists say it was even hotter than expected. -
Killer whales off Mexico have developed coordinated hunting skills to take down whale sharks, adding to their reputation as the ocean's top predator. -
Representatives of developing countries and climate activists were furious over the outcome, saying $300 billion annually from industrialized countries is far short of what vulnerable nations need to better protect themselves from climate change. -
With climate-related disasters getting more extreme, richer countries are piloting ways to compensate developing nations, since they bear the least responsibility for causing climate change. -
Fossil fuel emissions have increased steadily for almost two centuries. Now, the world may soon reach an important turning point for climate change. -
Trump's return to the White House raises questions about whether the country will continue working on global climate initiatives. -
The oceans play a big role in preventing the Earth from getting even hotter due to climate change. That's thanks to the ocean's natural waste recycling system, a process that's still mysterious. -
Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise and the world is still on track for severe climate change impacts, a new U.N. report finds. Action this decade will be essential. -
Hawaii's native tree snails, known as the "jewels of the forest," are rapidly disappearing. Some of the most imperiled only live in human care now, safeguarded 24 hours a day. -
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.
