Russia's ugly situation

This is how serious it is: Russia fought a deadly battle Tuesday to prevent wildfires from engulfing key nuclear sites as alarm mounted over the impact on health of a toxic smoke cloud shrouded over Moscow. The emergencies ministry said that over the last 24 hours, 247 new fires had appeared, more than the 239 that were extinguished, and 557 fires were still raging across the affected region. The heatwave has a huge impact on all areas of Russian society and economists warned Tuesday the record temperatures could have cost the country 15 billion dollars and undercut a modest economic revival. Worst hit has been the agriculture industry, which has seen 10 million hectares of land destroyed. Climate change, anyone? Link to original post: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/08/10-1