This year, he got his crop into the ground by late April, but dry conditions are now causing damage and reducing the number bushels his fields will produce.

WSJ: Midwest's Dry Spell Threatens to Intensify

There had been concern that low levels of oxygen in the water caused by the spell of hot and dry weather during the month would damage their welfare.

BBC: Highest ever numbers of salmon recorded in River Tyne

And farmers and fishermen concede that the only way to get that much rain quickly -- from a tropical storm or hurricane -- would cause more damage than the worst dry spell ever in one the wettest places on Earth.

CNN: Severe drought threatens Louisiana coastal marshes

Damage done by Midwestern floods in June was made worse by hot, dry weather in August.

FORBES: The Food Crisis Of 2011

In this tinder-dry setting, western diplomats have been forced to concentrate at least partly on short-term damage limitation (or rather, the avoidance of total disaster), as opposed to fixing Kosovo's longer-term future.

ECONOMIST: Kosovo