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.

5 Hurricanes rated Category 5, are they the ‘new normal’? What do we know about the number Five (5)? At least 50 dead from Dorian. Increasing in strength, ferocity, frequency, size and pain (5). Just like the pains of a woman in labor. Dorian, Matthew, Irma, Maria, Michael.

Doyle Rice, USA TODAY. USA TODAY•September 12, 2019

Category 5 Hurricane Dorian tore through the Bahamas like a buzz saw last week, killing dozens of people and leaving a ruined, broken landscape.

It was the fifth Category 5 hurricane in the past four Atlantic hurricane seasons, joining other monsters such as Matthew, Irma, Maria and Michael, each of which left its own trail of death and destruction.

Is this part of a new trend? Could this be the “new normal”?

“I fear it’s worse than that,” Penn State University meteorologist Michael Mann said. “As we continue to warm the planet, hurricane intensities will increase further. There’s no new normal. It’s an ever-shifting baseline toward more destructive storms as long as we continue to burn fossil fuels and load the atmosphere with carbon pollution.”

A Category 5 hurricane is the most destructive hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale, blowing winds of 157 mph or higher.

Category 5 winds can cause “catastrophic” destruction, the National Hurricane Center said: “A high percentage of homes will be destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse.” Power outages can last for weeks to months, and most of the affected area could be uninhabitable, the center said.

This isn’t the first onslaught of Category 5s: The early to mid-2000s had more than their share of these violent storms. “In 2005 alone, we had four Category 5 hurricanes (Emily, Katrina, Rita and Wilma),” Colorado State University meteorologist Phil Klotzbach said. “And we had seven Category 5 hurricanes from 2003-2005 – including Isabel in 2003 and Ivan in 2004.”

The reason for more Category 5s is clear, Mann said: “The basic physics is indisputable. Warmer oceans lead to hurricanes with greater potential intensities.”

Globally, oceans have warmed up about a degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit), he said, and they’ve warmed up a bit more in the tropical North Atlantic Ocean, which is where hurricanes that affect the USA come from.

Weather Underground meteorologist Robert Henson said, “There has been ample work for more than a decade showing that hurricane frequency hasn’t changed much globally, but the fraction of hurricanes reaching top levels (for example Category 4-5) has increased.

“This trend (roughly the same number of hurricanes but a larger share of them hitting the highest intensities) is consistent with what you would expect as sea-surface temperatures warm around the globe,” Henson said.

Other research indicates that as the climate warms, some hurricanes slow down (the way Harvey, Florence and Dorian did); some intensify rapidly (such as Michael); and others occur earlier in the hurricane season, according to University of Georgia meteorologist Marshall Shepherd.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory said, “Although we cannot say at present whether more or fewer hurricanes will occur in the future with global warming, the hurricanes that do occur near the end of the 21st century are expected to be stronger and have significantly more intense rainfall than under present-day climate conditions.”

As the climate warms, storms like Hurricane Harvey, which swamped the Houston area under record-breaking rainfall in 2017, could become more common.