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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On both the East and West coasts, whales are at risk of being entangled and injured by ropes used by fishermen. Fishing grounds are being closed, but new technology could help avoid that. -
How bad does the air get inside your house? What should schools do about recess? Western states have grappled with all that before. -
To prevent flooding, communities often raise levees next to rivers higher and higher. Now, a new approach is about backing off, moving levees away from rivers to create floodplains. -
Rising rivers are stranding endangered riparian brush rabbits in California. Wildlife officials are searching out and relocating hundreds of them to help protect the species.
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The massive ice sheet on Greenland is shrinking as the climate gets hotter, pouring fresh water into the Atlantic Ocean. That could be setting off a chain reaction that's altering ocean ecosystems. -
A new study finds deforestation reduces rainfall in tropical rainforests, which has grave consequences for agriculture, drought and climate resilience. -
California has been deluged by storms this winter, but fixing the state's severe drought will take more than rain. The state had deeper problems in how it uses water. -
Learning about climate change? Here's a comic for kids about what it is and how it's affecting the planet — as explained by kids who are experiencing it. And find out how to print this comic at home!
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Thanks to a new federal law, cities will get better forecasts about how climate change intensifies rainstorms. Still, it won't be in time for billions of dollars of federal infrastructure spending. -
Heavy rain is still hitting California. A few reservoirs figured out how to capture more for droughtDecades-old rules mean most reservoirs aren't allowed to fill up in the winter. A new approach using weather forecasts is helping some save more water to help with California's drought.
