"Those who deny abrupt climate change are worse than those who deny anthropogenic climate change. The latter can be dismissed easily. The former are more difficult to understand, and their denial is equally dangerous."
Guy McPherson
![An excavator moves mud and debris after landslides triggered by monsoon rains washed away dozens of homes on a Sri Lankan tea plantation, burying around 100 people alive and leaving hundreds more missing feared dead](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_slDRZ-6MDMvvG000tIN3ui95iS0OhqglyaLbZidzDXRiyQFXVI8PQjoIFNpgSANSepalYjH3Cb70W3H6uddl5akd6VGAsgUR0zmNHtrgBHSUfyZVl-IAX7X_dPZkt8CM4V22nIzYeYHevaI2raCoUK4HvaTdOJSM2f-WElrTE=s0-d)
![One witness spoke of hearing a noise like thunder as part of a mountainside collapsed onto the estate, burying homes in 30 feet of mud](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tnGcKeGxm4_3Ym9vXbG1YRghLefQb9TZe_SibCSpACnmjx8D_RCFq2nNmtEV2vXszZaPZ9mS2PEnqIrsZhsRSadGpAq4XUSgEC2BxddJizmw8j9u_2s8fn52VRPBgn8jvD5gVRcQM3vwDREmaEoXsDf8ZgLvsiGN8Q_9HCVuAK=s0-d)
![Obliterated: Sri Lankan men survey the damage to their homes on the tea plantation, about 140 miles east of the capital, Colombo](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_ukZMsRm27SVGU83REkZLGnuP14J7ukzc7JIpt_Z-YElJz9LPJdPjAmOib5Vfw5zqHdCFpdwa3Z0j585zweBsKQ4KZMKHzx6DE-css-omWGPBpEhxSOPH8P1Zq-50lKIHvNwpTG7AEmxpfMkz_9JpVU1vFTb5vF-aIh3R93V8W7=s0-d)
![Shock and awe: Crowds gather to watch the rescue operation after the mudslide at the Koslanda tea plantation in Badulla district](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sII8BnGx49ZU-PZ0vkCtCbnCiffCrB6yqIYwHwkJfxODuqN8LiJ6UV1iaGU_z4t3JVWA_4nOoDoqeChgUkpbqzG_CkbZvxuDrLI7Q6kphUqwRkDfPgY08_FzFSjWa0-ZWhWVVrApXINY6AF2tXjyJI4x147v-HUXYUpt6UDStR=s0-d)
![Search and rescue: About 500 military personnel and civilians were hunting for survivors with the help of heavy earthmoving equipment](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tM0JOpH2alA4R6h5pefqZC2hXfdQ5kOtN3X8SEGlJVXfxgmWey1ZiZ8LsrujE5hnKrsi1YSqXM-FHKVJHHF55F0OCLIEotjdAQKTldO3OY53achJd1Mn9PCJSb3iSx0nBD3W_kSHRMoXB0jQB7jbFmFUIaK9Z4qqHQTiZ_1bwc=s0-d)
![Landslide-affected homes buried under rubble with their roofs slightly visible while people watch the ongoing rescue operations](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sEnokdzE-59aQoWYmkTB0elqDWxVDqiwMqCnKZCDVqiYEcxAivwJHqWrfGSGd-VhJuDxsvXO7ieAQ9fXQOlrZ_BJV0ZZJaJa76atBCT_w29bnJOrvo3zEXyW7XIiN4rqfu12h0dmUqAIA-yELYeE2mfu4VSA26NWlDwclevPmjR3LqrAtclJ1eI0_W=s0-d)
![Officials said the mudslide struck after schools opened and tea plantation workers were supposed to be at work, but bad weather may have prompted some to stay home](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uA_aNXpzfCf0VFhTb72ociYhfHLIhVQHftH70RTAwu791gSGKA_kiArWQhzBDyKOMkku65XtF4-N8_7eUSHGpOsuCM22DRAdONCDMgGXEo3ZogI1B6YC-wTSilenBrDVRkSYyH143DjXPCrecQv2DfbhRXCrEuQMVNfdX7REOL=s0-d)
![The landslide began at about 7.45 am (2.15pm GMT) and lasted about 10 minutes, an official said, adding that 'some houses have been buried in 30 feet of mud'](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_v7L0jz1eHTkKXn_CDRZS8kcqXfL1nSUcq58rg8K9WZ18Ov4tHnV5m8Ez8ypJV_SlG2TUXbyp9jA1sL-QT1omCLFBPNA5v5ItcEngUcG_t8edRHjfSLBF-pLHu93dyYuNHsOn0bbSlWmfsI6jG8OPcneS0jEvIrtOP4O-vUtw=s0-d)
![Catastrophe: The mudslide struck at around 7.30am at the Meeribedda tea estate in Badulla district, 135 miles east of the capital, Colombo, wiping out homes and sections of national highway](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uw_pYkYDKGE8tosV5EovJ9PawrMFKoGLt9nfF3JXikvcKcbb6nE3XplIRFEQYWBbbC0QM-EA3vanlTZcNtTA_MJZh-I0m1QWOQYsLSobhde_500rnVXSNxpqrReJ-v-SVCEcDkLNm9I-cKGHgukgXayvY=s0-d)
My heart aches for the people of a country I love.
Just days after we covered catastrophic drought in Sri Lanka now we have terrible floods.
I also feel great anger.
To the people who profess not to see rapid climate change - the deniers - (people like Nicole Foss - and yes, I will name name) I say open your damned eyes to what is happening.
Just because it hasn't come into your petty lives it is already a fact for millions of people around the globe.
100
dead and hundreds more missing after devastating landslide buries
homes in 30 feet of mud on Sri Lankan tea plantation
Landslides triggered by monsoon rains swept away dozens of homes on tea estate and sections of national highway
- One witness heard noise 'like thunder' as part of mountainside collapsed, burying homes in 30 feet of mud
- Shopkeeper: 'Before my eyes, I could see houses crumbling and getting washed downhill. It all happened very quickly'
- Hundreds of soldiers dug with hands and excavators in desperate hunt for survivors in mounds of mud and rubble
29 October, 2014
Around
100 people have been killed and hundreds more are missing feared dead
after mudslides triggered by monsoon rains washed away their homes on
a Sri Lankan tea plantation, disaster officials said.
One
witness spoke of hearing a noise like thunder as part of a
mountainside collapsed onto the estate, burying homes in 30 feet of
mud.
Hundreds
of soldiers, who initially used their hands to dig for survivors, had
switched to operating excavators by evening, but hopes faded of
finding anyone else live.
'What
I gathered is that about 100 people have been buried alive,' Disaster
Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera told AFP after visiting the
site in the eastern Koslanda region.
'There
is no chance they could have survived,' said the minister, as other
officials said 16 people were confirmed dead.
An excavator moves mud and debris after landslides triggered by monsoon rains washed away dozens of homes on a Sri Lankan tea plantation, burying around 100 people alive and leaving hundreds more missing feared dead
One witness spoke of hearing a noise like thunder as part of a mountainside collapsed onto the estate, burying homes in 30 feet of mud
Obliterated: Sri Lankan men survey the damage to their homes on the tea plantation, about 140 miles east of the capital, Colombo
Shock and awe: Crowds gather to watch the rescue operation after the mudslide at the Koslanda tea plantation in Badulla distr
'Initially
we estimated the missing number at 300, but most of them were at
school or work,' the minister said, although other reports said more
than 250 were still unaccounted for.
'We
have already started relief operations to provide them with shelter
and food. Even the office where records were kept had been damaged,'
the minister said.
The
region's top military official, Major General Mano Perera, said 302
people, including 75 schoolchildren, whose homes were destroyed in
the mudslide were being looked after at two schools in the same area.
Search and rescue: About 500 military personnel and civilians were hunting for survivors with the help of heavy earthmoving Бequipment
Disaster zone: Landslide-hit homes are buried under rubble with their roofs slightly visible, while people watch the rescue operations
The
mudslide hit at a time when most people were at work and children
were already in school, leaving mostly the elderly and the very young
at home.
The
military officer said about 500 troops had been deployed in the area
to carry out the search for victims.
Kumara
said 16 bodies have so far been recovered from the disaster around
200 kilometres (125 miles) east of the capital, Colombo.
'We
have reports of 140 houses getting washed away in the mudslides,'
Kumara dded
Officials said the mudslide struck after schools opened and tea plantation workers were supposed to be at work, but bad weather may have prompted some to stay home
The landslide began at about 7.45 am (2.15pm GMT) and lasted about 10 minutes, an official said, adding that 'some houses have been buried in 30 feet of mud'
Part
of a mountain appeared to have collapsed onto the cluster of homes
belonging to the tea plantation workers and their families below,
leaving no trace of them, an AFP photographer at the scene said.
Shopkeeper
Kandasamy Prabhakaran, 34, said he heard a noise like thunder and
then saw houses being washed away by tonnes of mud.
'Right
before my eyes I could see houses crumbling and getting washed
downhill,' Prabhakaran said. 'It all happened very quickly.'
President
Mahinda Rajapakse ordered troops to deploy heavy equipment to speed
up the rescue efforts, his office said.
Catastrophe: The mudslide struck at around 7.30am at the Meeribedda tea estate in Badulla district, 135 miles east of the capital, Colombo, wiping out homes and sections of national highway
Military
sources said they expected more heavy machinery to reach the site,
but damage to roads as well as heavy rain and mist were slowing them
down.
Sections
of several national highways have also been washed away by the rains
and a train was stuck after a mountain slope crashed onto a railway
line.
The
landslide began at about 7.45 am (0215 GMT) and lasted about 10
minutes, Perera said, adding 'some houses have been buried in 30 feet
of mud.'
Authorities
have begun checking on the number of people who were in their homes
when tragedy struck.
Kumara
said the mudslide struck after schools opened and tea plantation
workers were supposed to be at work, but bad weather may have
prompted some to stay home.
The
area is prone to mudslides and residents had been repeatedly warned
to move to safer areas as monsoon rains lashed the region, the
Disaster Management Center said.
Thirteen
people were killed in mudslides in and around Colombo in June.
Cyclonic
winds that accompanied the monsoon in June last year killed 54
people, mostly fishermen.’
Bangladesh
to export 50,000 T rice to Sri Lanka
27
October, 2014
Oct
27 (Reuters) - Bangladesh will export 50,000 tonnes of rice to Sri
Lanka for the first time under a government-to-government deal at
$450 a tonne including cost, freight and insurance, Food Minister
Mohammad Karmul Islam said on Monday.
Strong
output and good government stocks have prompted the Bangladesh
government to initiate the plan to export rice.
"We
have sufficient stock, and our production is also good. So there will
be no crisis due to rice export," a Bangladesh food ministry
official said.
In
Sri Lanka, rice prices were up 36 percent by the end of September
from a year ago as production dropped due to an 11-month drought,
considered by experts to be its worst in recent history.
Sri
Lankan Agriculture Minister Mahinda Yapa Abeyawardene, who said in
August the country would have to import rice , told Reuters on Monday
that it had already imported 40,000 tonnes since August.
A
team from Sri Lanka will come soon to Dhaka to settle the deal, said
the Bangladesh official, who asked not to be named.
Bangladesh
exports a small quantity of aromatic rice, but this government deal
would be its first export of non-fragrant coarse rice.
Bangladesh
aims to produce more than 34 million tonnes of rice in the current
year, up from nearly 33.5 million in the previous year. Its reserves
have risen to more than 1.4 million tonnes from nearly 1 million
tonnes a year earlier.
The
world's fourth-biggest producer of rice, Bangladesh consumes almost
all its production to feed its population of 160 million. It often
needs to import rice to cope with shortages caused by natural
calamities such as floods or droughts.
Although
it did not import rice in the last two years, Bangladesh was ranked
as the fourth-largest importer of the grain by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture in 2011, with a volume of 1.48 million tonnes.
Late
in 2012, the government was considering lifting a four-year old ban
on rice exports to support farmers as record crops and bulging
domestic reserves pushed prices below production costs.
But
prices soared in January 2013, and the government backed away from
scrapping the export ban.
Sri
Lanka's Finance Ministry has already reduced taxes on rice imports in
April and on pulses in July to help mitigate the effects of this
year's drought on the market
From June. This is no denuded landscape
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