Two unprecedented events in the history of the world occurred in 2010: oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and wildfires in Central Russia. Both events shock not only by scale of environmental disaster, human losses, economic damage and consequences, but also by obscure, sometimes mystical, phenomena that accompanied these catastrophes. These disasters have riveted the world community’s attention: their consequences will have a detrimental effect on the ecology and economy not only of the two States but, to a greater or lesser extent, of many countries around the world.
