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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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.
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Nations are gathering the first week of November to negotiate new climate change pledges. But a new report card from the United Nations says those pledges aren't enough to stop extreme climate change.
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Nations are beginning pivotal talks to stop extreme climate change, but a new study shows even recent pledges to slow emissions aren't enough. -
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 announcement provides needed momentum for global climate change negotiations in November, but coal power is expected to keep growing within China itself. -
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. -
With the global pandemic still in the spotlight, more than 200 leading health journals say climate change is an even more urgent threat. -
Another destructive fire season has Western states searching for ways to prevent it. The Southeast just might have the answers: setting controlled fires before the wildfires come. -
The latest report from climate scientists provides a stark warning about how fast the planet is changing. Here are the top takeaways.
