The price of petrol locally has now hit 110.9p per litre.
This is a significant figure since it equates to £5 per gallon and I can remember the furore when petrol hit £1 per gallon during the Middle Eastern conflicts of the early 1970s. Nevertheless, our local garage is still one of the cheapest locally. Other garages are charging 2p to 4p more. And pity those using diesel which is now at least 10p more than unleaded petrol and at some garages selling for around £1.28 per litre.
There's news that a Nigerian oil pipe line has been bombed. This will only raise the price of crude oil further.
There's also been continuingly upsetting news from Burma following the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis. Most of the hardship seems to be centred round the Irrawaddy Delta. However, the ruling military Junta appear, to outside Western eyes and ears, to be completely ignoring the plight of hundreds of thousands of people living there.
Burma says some 78,000 people have died and 56,000 are missing since Cyclone Nargis hit. Save the Children says 30,000 acutely malnourished children are threatened by death from starvation. Goodness only knows if those figures are anything like accurate or if they are over or under estimations made for (differing) political expediencies.
Meanwhile, in the south-western Sichuan province of China, an earthquake has flattened whole towns. The number of confirmed deaths has now risen to 32,477 but officials say the final toll may reach 50,000. More than 220,000 people have been injured.
Elsewhere, Spain is teetering on the point of drought along its Mediterranean coast. Normally, the mountains above Barcelona are a rich source of drinking water. As in North Wales and the Lake District, valleys have been dammed in order to provide reservoirs. In Catalan country, one of those reservoirs is now at 18% of capacity. A Medieval village, submerged for some eighty years, has appeared above the waterline. Barcelona is bringing in shipments of water (tanker loads) from overseas to stave off a crisis.
All of which puts into perspective an extraordinary flash flood in the Garston area of South Liverpool.
Meanwhile the price of foodstuffs continues to rise.
Bio-fuels appear to have made an enormous dent in the world's grain markets. Wheat and barley prices are rising with consequent effects on bread, pasta and alcoholic beverages. There have been food riots in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.
There is a world-wide shortage of rice and, we are told, that rice producing countries are not exporting. Consequently, the price of Tesco's basic brand has risen enormously. It is now more expensive that the organic, fair trade rice stocked by our local health food shop who report no problems in getting supplies.
Britain's pork farming industry has been decimated over the past few years. Pork meat will rise in price this year.
Last week, Radio Four's Farming Today reported scenes of wild jubilation among sheep farmers at Shrewsbury market. Because of the way that Blue Tongue has affected flocks on mainland Europe, there was at least one pantechnicon parked up and the (I think) German owner was buying lambs at any price. Good for the farmers. For the consumer, expect lamb to double or treble in price over the next few months.
And don't expect any increase in volume from New Zealand lamb. That's mostly going to China these days.