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.

Climate change melts 12.5bn tons of ice in Greenland 50 years earlier than predicted

James Rothwell.The Telegraph•August 28, 2019

Billions of tonnes of ice in Greenland is melting 50 years ahead of climate change schedules, preventing inhabitants from moving around the country by sledge and leading to the surreal spectacle of children playing in the Arctic sea due to rising temperatures.

A heatwave gripping the Arctic region is causing unprecedented levels of melting ice, and has also seen global sea levels rise, in a clear sign that climate change is taking its severe toll much more quickly than predicted.

Earlier this month, in the town of Qaanaaq in northwestern Greenland, children were seen splashing around in the sea and wearing t-shirts, which would have been unheard of ten years ago.

Some schoolgirls have reportedly even started wearing skirts as part of their uniform. Climate experts said the sudden increase in melting ice was caused by greenhouse gas emissions over the past century and the so-called Albedo effect, where falling ice levels means that heat is absorbed by the planet instead of being reflected back into space, piling on yet more heat. 

They also warned that daily lives of Greenlanders risked being upended by climate change, with iced areas usually traversed by sled or snow ski turning into small lakes.

“We are already entering a new normal in the Arctic, and what we are seeing now is far and beyond what we predicted in 2019,” said Dr Victoria Herrmann, the president and managing director of the Arctic Institute, which closely monitors climate change in Greenland. 

“It has also fundamentally changed the environment of Greenland, both for the people that call it home and for its unique ecosystem. That will only get worse in the decades to come, where we will see ice free summers in the Arctic.” Dr Herrmann added that climate change has led to lakes of melted ice appearing in Greenland that cause logistical problems for its 56,000 inhabitants.

“The territory relies heavily on land based transport to get from one community to the next via snowmobile or dog sled,” she said. “But if it becomes a big puddle of water that makes it a lot more difficult to see relatives, or share the meat you have hunted, or go to a basketball game. It disrupts regular lives.”

The glacier-covered island is experiencing record-breaking temperatures which rose to 22C on August 1, 15C above the average rate. On that same day, the severe heat caused Greenland to lose 12.5 billion tons of ice, a staggeringly large amount even by Arctic standards.

Martin Stendel, a Danish climate expert, has warned that the overall amount of ice that melted on July 31 and August 1 was enough to cover all of Florida with nearly five inches of water.   Extreme cases of ice melting typically occur once every 250 years, however the enormous loss of ice on August 1 was the second since 2012, in a sign that the climate crisis is rapidly worsening. 

“Greenland has had a fire this year, and a number over the last few years and there was also a landslide recently which swept away a village,” said Dr Ruth Mottram, a climate scientist and glaciologist at the Danish Meteorological Institute. “There will be other big consequences [of the heat] – we are expecting more mosquitoes, for example.”