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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The plants and mulch within five feet of a home pose a major risk for spreading wildfire. California now has the tricky task of convincing homeowners to get rid of the greenery. -
Climate change makes deadly floods, like what happened in Libya, more likely. Floods in China, Greece and Brazil in recent weeks underscore the growing danger. -
The outlook for climate change is better now than a few years ago, but countries have a long way to go to avoid dangerous climate impacts, according to a new report. -
As oceans get hotter, coral reefs are suffering. Scientists are working on ways to preserve coral by freezing and then reviving them to restore reefs someday. -
There's little that separates the ocean from the 2,200 burned buildings in Lahaina. Officials are working to block runoff that could harm the coral reefs offshore. -
In preparing for future fires, Maui doesn't have to look far. States like California have passed wildfire policies to reduce the risk that a community will be destroyed. -
In Maui, NPR joined a tour boat operator to see the grassroots initiative the local surfing community and neighbors started to fill in gaps not currently being filled by official channels. -
The Biden administration is moving ahead with what could be the largest national marine sanctuary in the continental U.S. A Native American tribe is hoping to be partners in managing it. -
Scientists know a current in the Atlantic Ocean could collapse suddenly as the climate changes. The question of when matters to billions of people around the globe. -
Scientists say worsening heat waves have a clear link to climate change. This year, a seasonal El Niño pattern will also be adding fuel to the fire.
