Dangerous Weather Up 21%

Russia endured 21% more dangerous weather events in 2007 as 2005, and 13% above 2006, according to Itar-Tass, the Russian news agency.

The deputy chief of the national weather watching agency Rosgidromet, Alexander Frolov, attributed it to one thing: Climate change.

Across the world, officials are making similar pronouncements. Chinese officials have blamed a rising tide of disaster on global warming, as have several European leaders. Southeast Asian officials, particularly those in low-lying islands and coastal states, have warned of coming disasters, and many see Africa as a sleeper danger zone. Meanwhile, severe flooding, unusual tornadoes and other extreme weather events have marked recent weather history in the United States, where some politicians have joined the worldwide chorus linking the weather to wider changes in the Earth's climate.

COMMENTS ()