Monsoon floods kil hundreds in Asia while Russia smolders

[pscot]

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1570

The deadly 2010 monsoon kills hundreds in China and India over the weekend
The Asian Southwest Monsoon has hit yet another nation with extreme rains and deadly flooding. Northwest China's Gansu province was hard hit with torrential monsoon rains yesterday, and the resulting flooding and landslides claimed at least 127 lives. Over the past two weeks, at least 1,600 people have perished in Pakistan's monsoon floods, which some have called Pakistan's Katrina. At least 137 died in floods and landslides in the neighboring Indian state of Kashmir over the weekend, and monsoon flooding and landslides have also killed at least 65 people in Afghanistan in the past two weeks.

Smoke from wildfires cause by the worst heat wave in Russia's history are choking Moscow for a third straight day today, bringing air pollution levels to three times the safe level and forcing cancellation of dozens of flights. However, air pollution is not quite as bad as it was yesterday, when carbon monoxide levels peaked at 6.5 times the safe level. Visibilities at Moscow's airport were higher today (500+ meters), but temperatures still hit 97°F (36°C). The past 26 days in a row have exceeded 30°C in Moscow, and there is no relief in sight--the latest forecast for Moscow calls for high temperatures near 100°F (37.8°C) for the majority of the coming week. As I reported in Friday's post, the number of deaths in Moscow in July 2010 was about 5,000 more than in July 2009, suggesting that the heat wave has been responsible for thousands of deaths in Moscow alone. I would expect that by the time the Great Russian Heat Wave of 2010 is over, the number of premature deaths caused by the heat wave will approach or exceed the 40,000 who died in the 2003 European Heat Wave

[Ruby the Liberal]

1. Anyone want to partner on an International HVAC business?

These people are dying (2003/2010) because they don't have air conditioning. As the planet continues to go through these extreme weather patterns, AC and winter heat will become critical to survival.

[aquart]

4. Gonna be a lot fewer humans.

We may be about to go through one of those DNA bottlenecks.

[Odin2005]

2. Here we are having the most humid summer I remember.

Seriously, the dew point is NOT supposed to get to 80F in Fargo! I felt like dying when I ran over to the grocery store today!

[Bobbieo]

3. My 40 pint dehumidifier has to be emptied twice a day in Yuma and still not

one drop of rain in the area.

[babydollhead]

5. can the water be collected from the humidity and used?