coastal region, about 29% of the country are the plains and you take a look at the mountains, right there in sendai, we get plenty of snowfall. but the mountains are only some 12 miles or about 20 kilometers from the coast. so you go from sea level to some 12 miles inland and we go up to 5,000 feet, about 500-meter elevation gains. and right along the coast, we have those rice patties, and when the water comes in 800 kilometers per hour, that s going to cause much of the december ma damage. where we have the mountains that build in that area. you take a look at the temperatures. and the temperatures in this part of the world typically it s a humid subtropical region. about 50 degrees fahrenheit for the next 24 hours or so. and we re looking at partly cloudy skies, but better than the conditions we saw in christchurch. we had the quake a few weeks ago and rain showers in the forecast.
a good buying opportunity. that s whou you need a diversified portfolio? i would emphasize that. many thanks, andrew? charles in just a moment we ll check on massive flooding in sri lanka. the minister of agriculture says more than 90% of the country s rice patties have been submerged. we ll hear whether more rain is on the way. you re watching world business today.
right. glenn: you say that affects china as well, why? in pure economic term, obviously, china has lifted 400 million people out of poverty in 30 years, which by any historic standard reporter: they did kill 80 million people. well, this is in fact, probably over if you look at the course of timing, running from the ethiopennian war, even more violet. that s right. that ability to snap back gives you a sense of how dramatic the shift that has has been in chin. but they have 3- or 400 million people living on less than $2 a day and they are very nervous about the instability judge didn t they, when they were ready the federal beijing olympics, didn t they take people from the rice patties and put them on scaffolding and say, here, build this building. they did. i can t imagine going from the rice patties to seeing
right. glenn: you say that affects china as well, why? in pure economic term, obviously, china has lifted 400 million people out of poverty in 30 years, which by any historic standard reporter: they did kill 80 million people. well, this is in fact, probably over if you look at the course of timing, running from the ethiopennian war, even more violet. that s right. that ability to snap back gives you a sense of how dramatic the shift that has has been in chin. but they have 3- or 400 million people living on less than $2 a day and they are very nervous about the instability judge didn t they, when they were ready the federal beijing olympics, didn t they take people from the rice patties and put them on scaffolding and say, here, build this building. they did. i can t imagine going from the rice patties to seeing
changes. right. glenn: you say that affects china as well, why? in pure economic term, obviously, china has lifted 400 million people out of poverty in 30 years, which by any historic standard reporter: they did kill 80 million people. well, this is in fact, probably over if you look at the course of timing, running from the ethiopennian war, even more violet. that s right. that ability to snap back gives you a sense of how dramatic the shift that has has been in chin. but they have 3- or 400 million people living on less than $2 a day and they are very nervous about the instability judge didn t they, when they were ready the federal beijing olympics, didn t they take people from the rice patties and put them on scaffolding and say, here, build this building. they did. i can t imagine going from the