Local resident contemplates the roof of his home perched on a
nearby tree after Hurricane Charley. Every year the planet awes
us with meteorological phenomena, like monsoons in Asia and
hurricanes off the Americas. But however devastating these have
been, there was at least some form of continuity and
predictability in their seasonal appearances. Now it seems that
predictability is a thing of the past, with cases of extreme
weather on the increase. This week Japan suffered from its third
typhoon in three weeks. It is the fourth major storm to hit
Japan since late August, and is reportedly the most powerful to
hit Okinawa since 1972. Poor harvests, caused by this summer's
bad weather and flash floods, are having serious consequences
for farmers in northern Europe. Entire fields have been left to
rot due to the summer's heavy rainfall. Some countries have had
their wettest summer months on record. In 2003, dry weather
provided a bumper harvest, but the havoc caused by this year's
torrential storms could also re