By Daniel Kraker
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/knau/local-knau-593612.mp3
Flagstaff, AZ – Since our planet formed 4.5 billion years ago, its climate has seesawed, from hot to cold, wet to dry. Now, for the first time, scientists say humans are not just trying to cope with earth's changing climate, we're actively shaping it. Our everyday activities, from driving to work to turning on the radio, are adding vast quantities of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gasses into the atmosphere, which in turn are raising the planet's temperature.
We don't know for sure what global warming will bring. But here in northern Arizona, we're already seeing signs of a changing climate. We're in the midst of an extreme drought that's consistent with what climate models predict. Precipitation patterns are changing. Wildfires are burning hotter and more frequently.
On the May 2007 edition of 9-2-8, two Northern Arizona University scientists discuss our changing climate, and the impacts we're seeing, and feeling, right here in northern Arizona.