A Darkening Shadow Over Troubled Waters BWUNN, Home Bureau Oceanographers, meteorologists, fishermen, marine farmers, and diplomats rarely agree on anything as individual groups, and almost never concur as whole. This is especially true in South Asia, a region tormented by ethnic and religious tensions, population pressure, and a horribly threatened ecology. Perhaps no other region suffered so much during and after The Warming. Certainly, no other area of the world witnessed greater societal disruption. Increasingly erratic trade wind patterns and unpredictable shifts in the warm counterclockwise surface currents have challenged scientists and regional planners for some time. Harvests both in and near the Indian Ocean have become increasingly undependable. Even the exceptionally efficient robotic submarine fishing maws that track implanted "tracers" in targeted fish populations have proven inadequate to the task of following their ever-troubled prey. No harvester uses the word quota anymore. Experiments with low wind deflection, Quasi-fluid, Multi-tier Submarine Modeling (QMSM), and the deployment of terra-plankton bunkers, however, have both spawned promising results. During the last two years, signs of stability have returned to large portions of the Arabian Sea. A little glee has been evident in Islamabad and other regional capitals. This glimmer hope quickly faded this week when a bizarre series of storms lashed areas as far apart as Malaysia and Pakistan. A trio of hurricanes struck the coasts north and east of the Bay of Bengal and then swept across the Indian subcontinent. Rather than dissipating over India, they spawned hundreds of tornados. Dozens of larger twisters arched across the Indus Valley! All told, over 1.5 million people have been left homeless. No figures are available concerning the dead and injured, but the Urdu Voice suggests staggering numbers. The government of Pakistan has accused the Indian Federation’s Weather Office of being responsible for the debacle. Speaking from Hyderabad and citing his own people’s horrible loss of life and property, the Indian President scoffed at the charges. He, in turn, leveled his own charges against a host of potential culprits. As it is now, though, Odin seems the most likely suspect. The wrath of nature remains unabated.