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.
-
It was once thought that nothing could take down the world's largest animal, the blue whale. But scientists have witnessed something unusual that shows these giants do have a predator to worry about.
-
As the climate gets hotter, plants may need to grow in new locations to survive. But the animals that help spread the seeds are disappearing.
-
Some of the world's most vulnerable countries at the U.N. climate conference in Scotland are demanding compensation, and it's becoming a major sticking point in the negotiations.
-
Last month, the Muisyo family turned on the lights for the first time thanks to climate financing from rich countries. But the fund is falling short of its $100 billion goal to help poor countries.
-
When Hilda Flavia Nakabuye was a girl, a severe storm flooded her family's farm. Now she realizes that climate change was a factor — and she's become an advocate for change.
-
How hot will the planet get? What nations negotiate at the international climate summit will help determine that. Here are 4 things to know about what's being decided.
-
Climate change is hitting many developing countries hard. In Uganda, one climate activist worries that the upcoming international climate talks won't protect her home.
-
Heat waves are getting longer and more intense with climate change, which increases the risk of preterm birth. Pregnant women often don't hear about the dangers.
-
The world's largest trees are adapted to wildfires. But with fires getting more extreme, scientists warn that giant sequoias are running out of time.
-
Burning fossil fuels must decline almost immediately, a new study finds, for the planet to avoid more extreme floods, droughts and heat waves.