Pakistan drowns while Russia burns

Millions affected
Government overwhelmed.

The worst floods in Pakistan's history have affected 14 million people, the government's disaster management agency has said.

"It is a real crisis all over the country. It is unprecedented floods in our history," military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said, adding that the country did not have the resources to cope with such a disaster.

Pakistan floods affect 14 million

A variety of freakish weather conditions across the world has sent the price of staples including wheat, pork, rice, orange juice, coffee, cocoa and tea to fresh highs in recent weeks. Yesterday's decision by the Russian government to ban the export of wheat to protect home consumers saw grain prices jump 8 per cent on the day, on what was already a two-year high. Meanwhile, the burgeoning demand for foodstuffs and raw material growth in the resurgent economies of China and India has also driven oil, copper and other industrial commodities higher.
...
Taken together it suggests that Western nations will be hit by a sharp inflationary spike next year, as the price of bread, beer, petrol and many other everyday items climbs higher again. Given the sluggish prospects for growth in Western economies it threatens a return to "stagflation" – stagnant growth coupled with high inflation. The Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, has warned that inflation will stay above the official target of 2 per cent for "much of next year". At least for a time it could spike much higher as global commodity prices surge once again, exacerbating the VAT rise in January.

Russian wheat export ban threatens higher inflation and food riots


Extreme weather events such as these two are occurring all over the world right now. The effects will render millions homeless, reduce food supplies (resulting in increasing costs), and increase the chances of serious disease outbreaks. The costs of relief efforts will burden already overburdened economies globally.
Increasing food costs will push more of the worlds population into poverty, lowering their purchase power. This exacerbates the global recession. And then there's the threat of inflation as mentioned above...


It is just the beginning. It will get worse. It's gonna be a bumpy ride folks.

Update


Oh, and if you're into alarmist crap:

If you read any economic, financial, or political analysis for 2010 that doesn’t mention the food shortage looming next year, throw it in the trash, as it is worthless. There is overwhelming, undeniable evidence that the world will run out of food next year. When this happens, the resulting triple digit food inflation will lead panicking central banks around the world to dump their foreign reserves to appreciate their currencies and lower the cost of food imports, causing the collapse of the dollar, the treasury market, derivative markets, and the global financial system. The US will experience economic disintegration.

2010 Food Crisis Means Financial Armageddon