From Fires in Russia to Flooding in Asia, Extreme Weather Taking Its Toll

[marmar]

By Brian K. Sullivan and Madelene Pearson


Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Floods have killed thousands in Asia and left millions homeless from Pakistan to North Korea, while fires and drought in Russia have roiled global markets and a tropical storm bears down on Bermuda.

Asian devastation may stretch aid efforts as crops are destroyed at a time of soaring wheat prices, caused in part by Russia’s decision to ban grain exports through Dec. 31. Raw- sugar futures also rose in New York on speculation that Russia may import more to offset drought losses.

In the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Colin reformed and is bearing down on Bermuda with maximum sustained winds of 45 miles (75 kilometers) per hour, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. The storm is expected to drop as much as 5 inches of rain on the island nation starting tomorrow.

“Mother Nature is playing a very evil hand,” Peter McGuire, managing director at CWA Global Markets Pty., said in a telephone interview from Sydney today. “It’s always the poor that suffer.”

More than 1,500 people have died in Pakistan’s northwest and 4 million people are stranded after the deadliest floods in 80 years struck July 22. Five percent of the nation’s rice crop has been damaged, the Rice Exporters Association said, and at least 1.8 million people urgently need food, according to the United Nations World Food Program. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=atPFrVrVWR.4&pos=8

[SpiralHawk]

1. "It's always the poor that suffer. Smirk. Sneer." - RepubliCorporate Denialists

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[ixion]

2. There is no such thing as an 'evil' Mother Nature...

Evil implies consciousness, human or otherwise. There is only Mother Nature reacting to stimulus provided by our industrialization.

[Tesha]

3. Try to think of it as the "thinning of the heard".

It's been coming for humanity for a long time now.

Tesha