Blog note. Jesus indicated that ‘fearful sights’ (various natural disasters) would occur leading up to the time known as the Tribulation and Great Tribulation (a combined seven year period of great destruction on earth). Although these types of things have occurred in the past for centuries and thousands of years, they could be identified as the ‘season of the times’ due to the ferociousness of these events. They would be occurring in greater intensity, severity, frequency, size, duration, scope … just like the pains that a woman experiences in labor the farther along she is in the labor process. We are in the ‘season of the times’ that comes just before the seven (7) year Tribulation/Great Tribulation period
… And great earthquakes shall be in diverse places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. (Luke 21:11).
… And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; (Luke 21:25)
… Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken; (Luke 21:26)
… This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. (2 Timothy 3:1)
Jesus is giving a series of prophecies about what to look for as the age of grace comes to a close. These verses are several of many such prophecies from throughout the Bible. 2017 was the worst year in recorded history for the intensity, frequency, severity, duration and occurrence of a large number of severe natural disasters worldwide. Earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, torrential flooding, unprecedented wildfires in unusual places, devastating droughts, excessive/scorching heat setting records everywhere, record snowfalls in Europe and Russia. Snow in the Arabia. This list can go on. Most studied Eschatologists believe these ‘fearful sights’ and massive natural disasters are all part of the ‘CONVERGENCE’ of signs that this Biblical and prophetic age is closing. Most people who study prophecy are familiar with the routine reference(s) made that these things will be like a woman having labor pains, growing in intensity, frequency, size and duration.

Seattle to open smoke shelters for ‘new normal’ summer fires

TOM JAMES. Associated Press•June 19, 2019

SEATTLE (AP) — Ahead of a Western wildfire season expected to be again worse than average, officials in Seattle announced Wednesday that five city buildings would be outfitted to serve as havens where residents can go to breathe clean air.

The move is in response to several years marked by thick smoke hanging over the city from summer wildfires, which officials and scientists have unequivocally connected to the slow-motion of the effects of climate change.

Seattle officials demonstrated the technology at one of the havens — a community center in the city’s Rainier Beach neighborhood — pointing out air sensors mounted on the wall, and describing how the building’s existing ventilation system had been retrofitted with special filters to keep it positively pressurized with clean air.

Along with the Rainier Beach facility, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said at least two of the facilities could potentially be scaled up to shelter the city’s homeless population if air quality sinks far enough during the summer to endanger those unable to retreat indoors.

“We have to prepare as if this will be the new normal,” Durkan said, adding that 2018 saw 24 days with hazardous air quality levels due to wildfire smoke, including several reaching extreme levels.

That reflects a broader shift being felt across the American and Canadian West, and likely to continue in coming years, according to experts and federal data.

In 2017 and 2018, 15,625 and 13,750 square miles (40,469 and 35,612 square kilometers) burned in total in the US, mostly in western states, according to federal figures, compared to a 10-year average of 10,937 square miles (28,327 square kilometers) per year, while the fire seasons in British Columbia broke worst-in-history records both years.

That translated to a thick pall of smoke hanging over the region, well beyond Seattle, with Missoula, Montana, San Francisco, Spokane, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, all logging their worst air quality days on record in either 2017 or 2018, according to a recent study.

Although not as bad as in the worst years, including 2015, which saw Washington’s worst wildfire season in at least a century, the conditions are set this year again for a worse-than-average season.

At the Seattle event, officials described how that’s changing the character of the region, long known for its clean air and verdant landscapes.

“It’s a sad thing to say this, but if you love the outdoors, you might want to get out there while it’s safe,” said Craig Kenworthy, director of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency.

Lynn Sereda, an area woman who attended the event, described being struck by the climate of the northwest when she moved from New Jersey in the 1990s.

“The first thing I noticed was how clean the air and water was here. I never though the air could be compromised,” Sereda said.

The first bad wildfire season she experienced, in 2017, was a departure from that.

“The minute I left my house you could smell the wildfire in the air,” Sereda said. “Honestly it was pretty frightening.”

Another attendee, Donna Funk, described a similar experience. “I went out one day and there was ash falling from the sky,” Funk said. “I had never seen anything like that before.”