Russia "Gets" Climate Change

[tex-wyo-dem]

"And it unfolds:

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev declared a ban on grain exports for the rest of the year. Since Russia is the third largest grain exporter in the world, grain prices immediately shot up, and fears of the consequences circulated around the world. Particularly in Middle Eastern countries like Egypt, which is a large grain importer.

Imagine, for a moment, what it would take for President Obama to declare a ban on all corn exports from the US for the rest of the year. Remember that he has had to struggle both politically and in court just to effectively ban offshore oil drilling for a similar time frame. It would take a catastrophe of nearly unimaginable proportions to provoke such a thing.

A catastrophe of nearly unimaginable proportions is just what is happening in Russia right now."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-ostertag/russia-gets-climate-chang_b_672652.html

[BeFree]

1. So...?

Is the world gonna run short of grain?

And are the manipulators of commodity prices laughing all the way to the bank, or what?

[tex-wyo-dem]

4. Oh, I don't doubt that the manipulators are out in force...

making a nice profit off of this catastrophe, but that's what they do...shock doctrine capitalism.

The main point of the article is that expected shocks to the system due to food shortages caused by climate change are starting and we are only seeing the beginning.

[ensho]

2. this must be a modern first - that a large country stops food exports in

order to have enough of that food for the citizens

[Subdivisions]

3. He was against global warming until he was for it. n/t

[Uncle Joe]

5. The challenge to avert the worst effects of global warming climate change can either

unite humanity or divide it, we're all in this together whether you know it not.

I believe there needs to be a global Marshall Plan/Manhattan Project in regards to changing humanity's energy usage to sustainable, green sources with impact on the environment being a or the prime consideration.

http://climateprogress.org/



Russian President Medvedev: “What is happening now in our central regions is evidence of this global climate change, because we have never in our history faced such weather conditions in the past.”
NYT: "Russia Bans Grain Exports After Drought Shrivels Crop"
August 5, 2010


Russia is being devastated by extreme weather — and their leaders aren’t silent on what they think the cause is. On Thursday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev spoke to a Russian Security Council meeting on the ongoing threat of wildfires associated with the country’s heatwave and drought:

“…our country has not experienced such a heat wave in the last 50 or even 100 years… I want to say that this is, of course, a severe trial for our country, a great trial indeed. But at the same time, we are not alone in facing these hardships, for other countries too have gone through such trials and, despite all the difficulties, have managed to cope with the situation. … Overall, we need to learn our lessons from what has happened, and from the unprecedented heat wave that we have faced this summer.

None of us can say what the next summer will be like. The forecasts vary greatly. Everyone is talking about climate change now. Unfortunately, what is happening now in our central regions is evidence of this global climate change, because we have never in our history faced such weather conditions in the past. This means that we need to change the way we work, change the methods that we used in the past.”

Thanks for the thread, tex-wyo-dem.

[damntexdem]

6. But what about all those up-sides, like planting in Siberia?

;-)