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.

Devastating wildfires becoming ‘normal’ as UK countryside gets drier

Henry Bodkin. The Telegraph•June 21, 2019

Wildfires are becoming “normal” in the UK, with the number of blazes so far this year nearly double that for the whole of 2018, experts have warned.

Fires such as the weeks’ long conflagration on Saddleworth Moor last summer will strike more frequently due to longer dry spells prompted by global warming, the scientists said.

The warning came as new analysis by the London School of Economics (LSE) showed there have been 134 recorded wildfires so far this year, affecting 29,152 hectares.

Even at only halfway through the year, this represents a sharp increase on the 79 fires recorded in 2018, affecting 18,031 hectares.

There were just 19 fires affecting 5,126 hectares recorded in 2017.

More than a quarter of the land damaged this year is accounted for by huge blaze which took place in the north of Scotland in April, thought to be the largest to take place in the UK since 1990.

Spring is the most dangerous time for fires because plants which are not yet in their full growth cycle contain less water.

The likely increase in wildfires could soon force people living in the countryside and on the edge of towns to organise their gardens so as to limit the risk of fire to their houses in the same way as homeowners do in Southern Europe, according to Dr Cathelijne Stoof, from Wageningen University in The Netherlands, who co-presented the data.

“We need to be prepared because it’s going to get worse and we need to design our landscape and our policies so they are prepared for that,” she said, adding: “We need to move from resisting fire to living with fire.”

The fires last summer on Saddleworth Moor – situated between Manchester and Sheffield – raged for three weeks and damaged around seven square miles of moorland.

Efforts to extinguish the blaze were hampered by peat smouldering underground.

Dry conditions have contributed to subsequent fires on the moors in February and April this year.

Wildlife experts believe the cumulative effect of the fires could be felt for at least 15 years.

The British countryside is swiftly becoming “more flammable”, according to Dr Thomas Smith, assistant professor in environmental geography at LSE, who helped compile the figures.

Dr Rory Hadden, an expert on fire investigation at the University of Edinburgh, said: “We’re going to get longer periods of warmer, drier weather, that’s what climate change is going to bring us.

“More fires is what we’ll see, some of them becoming more intense.”

Northumberland is one of three areas of England to have adopted a “Firewise” toolkit, designed to help communities work together to lessen the chance of wildfires breaking out or spreading near domestic property.

The scheme is widely used in the US, where in certain states it is common to avoid planting certain species of trees close to homes.

Dr Stoof said such homeowners will need to become increasingly aware of safe garden layout as the risk from wildfires increases.

“There are really easy things that homeowners can do to reduce the risk of fires to their home,” said Dr Stoof.

“Those measures will not guarantee that the home survives the fire but they will increase the chances.”