The vast majority of scientists believe that the trend of “global warming” will have serious consequences for humanity. But until recently, politicians were pretty much divided on this subject.
As reported in a Reuters news article last June, “the Bush administration acknowledged for the first time in a new report that U.S. greenhouse gas emissions will increase significantly over the next two decades.”
When fossil fuels such as gasoline, oil and coal are burned, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Of course, this is the same gas that we human beings give off when we exhale. All the plants of the earth absorb this same gas and release oxygen as a byproduct. Throughout the entirety of human history, this cycle was in apparent balance—until the past century. Over the last 100 years, as vast tracts of tropical rain forests have had their timber cut, Earth’s atmosphere has seen a build-up of carbon dioxide. Compounding this build-up has been the burning of huge quantities of fossil fuels, which has released enormous amounts of this gas that required hundreds of millions of years to be accumulated in the fossil fuels in the first place.
The net effect is what is called the “greenhouse effect.” Carbon dioxide in our atmosphere traps heat more effectively than oxygen, and this allows the earth’s temperature to climb. As the human population continues to expand, more fossil fuel release of carbon dioxide is inevitable. Reuters reported the Bush administration forecast that: “The total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions will increase 43 percent between 2000 and 2020. Average temperatures in the U.S. will rise 5 degrees to 9 degrees during this century. Average sea levels, rising 19 inches from global warming, could threaten building, roads, power lines and other infrastructure. With a higher sea level, coastal regions could be subject to increased wind and flood damage.” These are startling admissions from a White House that had never before acknowledged these effects and mankind’s role in them.
Other factors beyond mankind’s control—such as the sun’s regular cycle of sunspot activity—may also affect weather and the rise in temperature.
There is one other factor that scientists do not take into consideration. The Creator reserves the right to affect weather patterns. The Word of God clearly indicates that God will use the weather patterns to bring us to Him, for our own good. For those nations that obey their Creator, God says in Leviticus 26:4: “I will give you rain in its season and the land will yield its produce.”
To the nations that turn their backs on God, He warns: “I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze” (v. 19). God will get the attention of mankind with weather patterns that produce drought and famine.
When Jesus Christ was asked by His disciples what would be the sign of His coming and the end of the age, He replied: “There will be famines, pestilences and earthquakes in various places” (Matthew 24:7). But whatever the weather patterns that will affect our nation as God begins to withdraw His blessings, we can truly seek God in our own lives—and God promises protection to those who truly seek Him: “A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked” (Psalm 91:7–8).
The above is an adaptation of one of the many commentaries, on key topics facing our world, available at the www.lcg.org and www.tomorrowsworld.org Web sites.