Have Apocalyptic Weather Changes Begun?

August 18, 2003
Hal Lindsey

The heat wave hovering over Europe has killed many hundreds of people and produced the hottest temperatures ever recorded in a number of countries there.

England experienced the highest temperatures in 350 years of record keeping. Thermometers soared above 100 degrees Fahrenheit for the first time ever, and this was coupled with high humidity. This produced a deadly combination for an area that has historically not needed air conditioning.

Northern Italy experienced record high temperatures. In Turin, more than 46 people died of heat related causes. Milan suffered at least 16 deaths.

Spain estimates that at least 40 people have died from the heat wave. Records continue to fall across Europe as temperatures hit 98 in Prague, 100 in Vienna and 105 in parts of northern Italy.

But by far France is the worst hit. More than 3,000 people have died as a result of 100 degree heat with high humidity that has continued since mid-July. In some French areas, the thermometers reached an incredible 105 degrees.

Germany has reported a number of heat wave caused deaths. The Germans, who usually flock south to the lakes and beaches of the Mediterranean Sea, have instead fled north to the beaches of the Baltic Sea. This is incredible, since that area is usually too cold for such activity. Temperatures in Bavaria hit 105 degrees, setting a new German record.

Switzerland recorded its warmest temperatures in 250 years of record keeping. Some of the lower Glaciers melted, sending mudslides down on villages below.

The New York Times reports on the French catastrophe, “In the early days of this summer’s heat wave, officials played down its significance, and most of the French government left for the annual monthlong August vacation.

But as the death toll grew, the finger-pointing began. ‘The figures are becoming catastrophic,’ said Dr. Patrick Pelloux, the president of the association of emergency room physicians. Addressing a news conference in Paris, he said that ‘we cannot yet measure the phenomenon,’ and called on the government to apply throughout France emergency measures that were put in place in Paris on Wednesday providing for extra hospital beds and staffing and for temporary morgues.”

The affect of the heat wave on European agriculture has also been catastrophic. This will have a cascading affect on other factors of European health and economy.

U.S. Also Setting Records for Heat & Rain

“While the heat wave gripping Europe this summer made headlines around the world, the United States was setting its own records for scorching heat in the West and torrential rains in the East,” writes Joan Lowy for Scripps Howard News Service.
Lowy continues, “Every Western state except California suffered temperatures much warmer than normal last month. Numerous daily and monthly records were shattered, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. Idaho and the cities of Phoenix, Las Vegas, Cheyenne, Wyo., and Grand Junction, Colo., all experienced their warmest July on record, the center said.”

What Constitutes A Catastrophic Heat Wave?

Weather experts report that the parameters of an extreme heat watch, warning, or advisory can vary by location. The elements of a catastrophic heat wave are: temperatures that hover 10 degrees or more above the high normal temperature for the region, last for prolonged periods of time, and are accompanied by high humidity that the body cannot tolerate. Such heat wave conditions produce an extremely dangerous situation. This is especially true for the elderly and those weakened by illness.

The greatest risk posed by a prolonged heat wave is for people living in urban areas. Extreme, prolonged heat can set off a chain of life threatening events. It causes stagnant atmospheric conditions that trap pollutants in urban area. This produces unhealthy air that adds to the risk of those who have respiratory problems. The large areas of asphalt and concrete store heat for long periods and prevent cooling down at night.

There is also another catastrophe that heat waves can trigger—forest fires. Record numbers of forest fires have raged across Europe, Canada and the United States. These not only are caused by the heat waves, but in turn also accelerate global warming.

A Related Potential for Catastrophe

We just saw the potential for catastrophe that can happen in large cities when the electrical systems get overloaded and shut down. More than fifty million people in the Northeast of the United States and the Province of Ontario, Canada, lost electricity when suddenly the system broke down—causing the greatest “black-out” in history.

All the facts as to what caused the catastrophic electrical break down are not in. But the heat wave that has lingered for days over this region certainly had to play a part, since air conditioners were running at record levels. This placed a great strain on the entire electrical system. When the electrical system is running at near maximum capacity, the margin for error becomes extremely small.

The problem is that the entire infrastructure of modern cities is built around the assumption of an un-interrupted electrical power supply. Most of the transportation system is dependant upon either electrically powered engines or upon equipment that is necessary for their safe operation. I refer to such things as subways, trains, automobiles, airports, aircraft and ships.

Most multi-story buildings do not even have windows and are totally dependant on air-condition systems. Elevators are an absolute necessity for many people who cannot walk up and down enormous numbers of flights of stairs. And buildings with upward of fifty stories are rendered virtually useless.

The latest great Northeast Black-Out left millions stranded. More than 5000 people had to be evacuated from New York subway trains that were stranded deep inside tunnels—some underneath the Hudson River. Hotels with rooms could not rent them to desperate people because their computers were down and they didn’t know which rooms were occupied or empty. Grand Central station was shut down. All the major airports had to close down because of unreliable power supplies to run the computers for traffic control and the navigational systems.

Because there were no elevators, great numbers of the elderly and ill were stranded in their apartments in metropolises like New York City, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Ontario and Toronto. That’s with no air-conditioning and no way to get groceries or medicines. Much of the phone system did not work.

Millions of commuters were stranded without food, shelter or transportation and had to sleep on the hot streets. Anyone who is familiar with the normal dangers of street crimes in New York City knows how scary that had to be.

Has Global Warming Reached A Critical Stage?

Many are now wondering if the long debated global warming due to excessive use of fossil fuels has now entered a critical stage—one where irreversible catastrophes begin to accelerate in a domino effect.

Joan Lowy again writes, “Some European scientists have drawn a connection between this year's extreme weather and global climate change, even going so far as to liken human-induced global warming to weapons of mass destruction.”

Lowy continues, “Human-induced "climate change, driven by emissions of greenhouse gases, is already under way and likely responsible for most of the observed warming over the last 50 years – the largest warming that has occurred in the Northern Hemisphere during at least the past 1,000 years," said 750 scientists in a letter to [U.S.] congressional leaders last month.”

Conditions are similar to the weather that caused the catastrophic ‘dust-bowl’ of the 1930’s depression years.
Earthweek reports that one of the causes of the great European heat epidemic is a shift northward of the “meteorological equator” over Africa. This directly caused the killer heat wave as the hot air mass that usually sits over the Sahara Desert shifted to Europe. This represents a major new climatic shift in world weather patterns.

This “Great African Shift”, as it has been named, has triggered climate changes all across the Sahara Desert region and beyond. Unprecedented rainstorms have inundated a wide swath across Africa from Senegal to Eritrea. This has caused widespread death and destruction from late July through early August.

Earthweek reports, “Heavy thunderstorms from the intertropical convergence zone, a line of convective storms normally several hundred miles to the south, parked over sub-Saharan Africa during the past few weeks. The errant weather pattern has produced the worst floods in Eritrea for 40 years and some of the most severe summer storms in living memory across parts of Algeria and Sudan.”

I am reluctant, as others are, to sound the kind of urgent warning that is required in view of the increasing evidence. The reason is because of the threat posed by radical members of the ‘Green Party’. They want to use this looming catastrophe to impose their draconian agenda to take over the world government, unnecessarily wreck the world economy and remove most personal freedoms. They are generally anti-God in their solutions as well.

The Bible Predicted this Global Weather Pattern Shift

One thing is nevertheless certain, global weather patterns are changing. The increasing heat, which most radically affects the equatorial regions over the planet’s oceans, is spawning storms of ever-increasing magnitude.

God predicted through Isaiah the terrible world conditions man would bring upon the earth in the Last Days, “The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.” (Isaiah 24:5-6 NASB)

Isaiah warns that because of the pollution man brings upon the earth, mankind will be burned and few will survive. This fits in with many other prophecies that apply to the years just before Jesus the Messiah returns to the earth to establish His Kingdom.

Jesus also warned of the effect of global weather pattern changes, “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.” (Luke 21:25-26 NIV)

This warns about the great super storms that will come in from the sea. The will be of such magnitude and so catastrophic that men will have fatal heart attacks from sheer terror. There will also be cosmic changes that will produce terrifying conditions on earth. One of those conditions will result in heat waves of unimaginable severity. The Apostle John predicts the ultimate heat wave in the verses I quoted at the beginning of this article.

This condition is also evidenced by the promise God makes to those believers who are martyred out of the Tribulation period, which covers the last seven years before Jesus the Messiah returns. He promises them, “Never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 16:16-17 NIV)
This is one of the many signs that were all predicted to occur together just shortly before the Lord Jesus returns.

We who believe that Jesus died in our place and have received the pardon for our sins that He purchased for us will not be here when the worst of these global weather changes unleash their fury. But we will probably witness some of them.
For us who believe, it is not a time to be frightened.

It is a time to be excited. It is a time to make the most of our opportunities to win others to faith in the Lord Jesus. It is a time to learn how to crack the faith barrier and soar into the place of God’s inner peace and power.

This is why I wrote my latest book, Faith For Earth’s Final Hour. Check it out. You are going to need its message. Don’t be one of those whose heart fails him out of fear of what is coming upon the world.

Maranatha!

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