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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2020 and 2016 are virtually tied for the hottest year on record. That means more powerful hurricanes, more intense wildfires, less ice and longer heat waves. -
Homeowners are rebuilding after wildfires, but many won't be required by governments to use fire-resistant materials. Without such improvements, communities face harm again with the next fire. -
Many homeowners who lost everything in a wildfire had no idea they were at risk. Only two states require disclosing wildfire risk to buyers in the house hunting process. -
Wildfires and floods threaten tens of millions of properties in the U.S. But most Americans get little or no information about climate risks when they move. -
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Wednesday that amounts to the most aggressive clean-car policy in the U.S. and would end the sale of new gas vehicles in the state in 15 years. -
In another record-breaking year, communities are realizing the best way to survive wildfires is learning to live with them. -
Hurricanes, wildfires, heat waves and disease outbreaks are all a preview of our hotter future. Dramatically cutting greenhouse gas emissions would help. -
Millions of home listings on Realtor.com now include information about climate change-driven flood risk. Other real estate sites are holding off. -
Scientists say parasites are important parts of ecosystems, but many are at risk of extinction. So, they're calling for a parasite conservation movement. -
Communities were counting on historic levels of funding to prepare for climate change-driven disasters. Now, efforts are on hold.
