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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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So much ice is melting at the Earth's poles that it's affecting the rotation of the planet, scientists say. Its spin is slowing down slightly, causing days to get longer.
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Hawaii's unique birds, known as honeycreepers, are being wiped out by mosquitoes carrying avian malaria. The birds' last hope could be more mosquitoes, designed to crash their own population.
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The debris from Lahaina's fire contains toxic chemicals and sits right next to a coral reef. So the community is collaborating with scientists to track water quality.
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Climate change is heating oceans faster than the world's coral reefs can handle. So scientists are breeding corals that can withstand hotter temperatures – but only to a point.
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As burned properties come up for sale in Lahaina, many worry outside developers will scoop them up. Some are turning to a tool that's helped other towns after a disaster: a community land trust.
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After being hunted for decades, humpback whales returned to the Pacific Ocean in big numbers. Now, new technology is revealing that underwater heat waves are taking a toll on that recovery.
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Global temperatures soared past previous records in 2023, according to new data from the European Union. Nations must slash fossil fuel emissions to avoid even higher temperatures, scientists warn.
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A historic agreement at the international climate talks will provide hundreds of millions of dollars for developing countries. It's nowhere near enough.
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This year's United Nations climate summit is being held in the petroleum-dependent United Arab Emirates. Delegates began by approving a landmark fund to pay for climate losses.
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Climate science shows that beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, impacts in the U.S. get substantially worse. The world is on track for almost double that level of warming by the end of the century.