KAUTOKEINO, Norway - Winter temperatures in Norway's Lapland could rise dramatically this century, with potentially devastating consequences for the region's reindeer and the indigenous Sami people who make their living herding them.

A vast frozen tundra, the mountainous Finnmark plateau in Norway's far north, is experiencing a hot spell - relatively speaking - wreaking havoc on the centuries-old Sami way of life.

"We already feel the effects of global warming here," says Per Gaup, a reindeer herder in his 60s out on the job. "I can see that we're losing more reindeer because of climate change."