News stories tagged with "climatechange"

(05/11/07) 40 scientists from across the Northeast have collaborated to project the region's climate through the end of the century. The conclusion of the Northeast Climate Impacts Assessment, released last June, is that the very character of the Northeast is in danger. Cameron Wake is one of the team's co-leaders. He's a researcher at the University of New Hampshire's Climate Change Center. Wake told David Sommerstein the scientists used two future scenarios.

(05/11/07) For years, researchers studying the effects of climate change on agriculture have focused on two big issues: the availability of water and the impact of increasing carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere. Carbon dioxide released from our cars and factories is the number one cause of global warming. But scientists have long theorized that more of the gas in the atmosphere could actually help grow bigger plants. New research is challenging that assumption. David Sommerstein went to the breadbasket in Illinois to learn more.

(05/11/07) Local weather and natural observations recorded for the region over many years give support for the claim that the North Country mirrors the rest of the world in experiencing a warming climate. What might that mean for the environment, the economy, and our way of life? Martha Foley, paleoclimatologist Curt Stager and physicist Aileen O'Donoghue discuss the possibilities and take calls from listeners.

(05/10/07) The global scientific community has reached consensus - the Earth's climate is getting warmer and humans are a major cause of it. Most of the country is projected to experience milder winters, more hot summer days, and stronger storms. This week we're looking at how global warming will affect the North Country. It's already affecting agriculture, the region's biggest industry. Plants are sprouting sooner. New crops are being sown. But fields are flooding more often. And new pests are taking hold. Farmers who adapt can take advantage of the changes, but the financial risks are great. David Sommerstein reports.

(05/09/07) Here in the North Country, we rarely think of drinking water as a commodity, as a resource as precious as oil or timber. But the growing demand for fresh water in other parts of the country -- especially in the desert Southwest -- is changing the value of water in places where supplies have always been plentiful. In this first report of our special coverage of climate change, global and local, Brian Mann looks at how this region's drinking water could wind up in faraway cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas.