Remember the good old days when the weather used to be a conversation filler? Well, those days are gone.
The Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere has classified 97 percent of Portugal to be “in ‘severe drought.’” Additionally, it reported “the month of May [as] the hottest in the southern European country for the last 92 years.”
Portugal’s drought has advanced to surpass even the country’s unusual conditions earlier in the year, in which “severe or extreme drought doubled in the first two weeks of February to cover 91% of its territory.”
Now, the heatwave is spreading across Europe. Other regions were likewise not spared: “India and Pakistan saw the mercury scrape past 50 C (122 F) in some places.”
Then, on June 16, an ocean away in the United States, theKansas Department of Health and Environment reported “at least 2,000 cattle deaths that occurred in the southwest part of Kansas,” an alarming result of a heatwave making its way across the nation. For instance, in Kansas’ Haskell County, June 9 saw a high of almost 80 degrees Fahrenheit before catapulting “to a scalding 101.1 degrees just two days later.” For a state who is “among the top three producers of beef in the country,” this was a big blow.
From Droughts to Floods
Several days previous, on June 13, Mexico City, Mexico, was suddenly rocked “by a massive hail storm,” which “left the streets in the center and western region of the Mexican capital covered in ice” and 10 of its boroughs swimming in “half a foot of rain.”
And back in the states, Yellowstone National Park has been drowning in floodwaters for the past week. As The Associated Press reported, “Heavy weekend rains and melting mountain snow had the Yellowstone River flowing at a historically high level of 16 feet.” Those rushing waters have since destroyed roads, bridges, even entire homes. They were so relentless that one homeowner attempting to salvage his property simply gave up: “And then I quit. It was like, the water won,” he said.
As the floodwaters traveled through nearby towns, they not only wreaked havoc on residents but also shattered any hopes of a high tourist season, especially disappointing on Yellowstone’s 150th anniversary. Indeed, “more than 10,000 visitors” were forced to evacuate. For “businesses [that] had just started really recovering from the tourism contraction wrought by the coronavirus pandemic,” the natural disaster was just another straw upon a camel already buckling at the knees.
Though “the south loop” of Yellowstone is planning to welcome visitors back “at 8 a.m. Wednesday, June 22,” the rest of the park is to remain closed until further notice.
The Climate Is Changing
The past few weeks have seen a deluge of weather patterns across the world. News articles have described the events as exceptional, “record-breaking,” “unprecedented.” And not so surprisingly, nearly every news report covering these irregular conditions also names a single culprit—climate change.
“We certainly know that climate change is causing more natural disasters,” asserted a former University of Vermont professor to the AP.
“Scientists have shown climate change is impacting the frequency at which extreme weather events occur, and the trend is expected to continue as the planet continues to warm,” CNN declared.
“What is clear is that the livestock (and human, for that matter) heat stress issue will become increasingly challenging for livestock farmers to deal with, as the world warms,” The Guardian quoted another professor as stating.
To put it simply, yes, the climate is changing—but only the Bible can tell you the reason.
The Bible recorded Jesus prophesying that there would be “the sea and the waves roaring” (Luke 21:25) and “fearful sights and great signs from heaven” (v. 11) when we neared the end of the world. The Messiah furthermore described such manifestations as “birth pangs” (Matthew 24:8 NRSV), the contractions a woman undergoes during labor. First, these “pangs” come slowly, suddenly. Then, they grow more frequent, stronger, more painful. Let’s take just these bouts of extreme weather in these past weeks, one after another peppering the earth and its hapless inhabitants. In this sector alone, are we not witnessing the fulfillment of Christ’s signs of the times?
The climate is changing because the world is approaching the finish line. In fact, “the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now” (Romans 8:22), the apostle Paul said nearly 2,000 years ago. We are living in the last days.
Bible prophecy tells us that there are currently “four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree” (Revelation 7:1). This is symbolic language, but its meaning is evident: It is God who is preserving, it is God who is conserving—you. If not for God’s bounteous mercy, this world and everything in it would already be destroyed; that is to say, “the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation” (2 Peter 3:15).
As our scientists, environmentalists, and world leaders plead for us to save the planet, have they ever considered that we are the ones that need saving? Do they know of God’s glorious plan of salvation for humanity? Do you? We invite you to try our short and easy read Three Steps to Heaven.
And consider this: What if climate change isn’t a bogeyman but a plea—to choose everlasting life through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ?