Biblical prophecy foretells an end time for life on this planet brought about by God's judgement and punishment of that which is evil. Popular belief is that this event will occur over a relatively short period of time, and many believe that the end will come in the way of a natural calamity such as a meteor striking the earth or as the result of a man made nuclear holocaust. Additionally, many are looking at the end of the second millennium as the time this event will occur. However, there is another more subtle long-term scenario that is already unfolding which may eventually destroy most life on this planet. It may well be that God is letting us be the instruments of our own end and may well spread over the next century in a slow march of increasing climatic violence and frequency of events that occur naturally on this planet.

Human beings have in recent years discovered that they may have succeeded in achieving a momentous but unwanted accomplishment. Because of our numbers and our technology, it now appears that we have been altering the climate of our planet.

Our planet is naturally a place of change, often with severe human impacts. The earth's climate has varied in the past, often with severe impact on humankind. However, human activities can now induce additional changes with equally large impacts. Atmospheric pollution now hangs over many regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The thinning of the stratospheric ozone layer is expected to be a new human caused feature of the planet for nearly another century. The green house gases being added to the atmosphere will reside there for centuries and are predicted to increase global surface temperatures by several degrees Celsius, a change that is larger than the natural variation occurring over the past 15,000 years. Most of that change to date has occurred over the past 15 years.

The increasing greenhouse gases consist primarily of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, water vapor, ozone, aerosols, and methane, and are created primarily by the burning of fossil fuels. These pollutants are creating an ever-thickening insulating layer around the globe, preventing or slowing the release of normal and man generated heat from escaping to space. They are also upsetting the delicate balance of the normal atmospheric gases on which all life on this planet depends.

The scale of the problem is vast and is being escalated by energy consumption in the U.S. primarily due to vehicles and production of electricity. The U.S. is responsible for 23% of global warming gas emissions, but contains only 4% of the world's population.

Based on studies of how the earth's weather has changed over the past century as global temperatures edged upward, as well as on sophisticated computer models of climate, it now appears, that for the short term, warming will accompany changes in regional weather. For instance, longer and more intense heat waves will occur as well as more severe storms. Our lives will shortly become tied to watching TV newscasts for approaching thunderstorms, knowing that they may contain powerful tornadoes that will wipe out entire villages and cause death along with tremendous property damage. More powerful hurricanes will be created with increasing frequency to threaten and devastate coastal areas of the U.S. and the Caribbean. Typhoons will affect the Pacific in a similar manner. Brown outs will occur as our electrical power plants struggle to keep air conditioners going during heat waves in the summer months. It is projected that the heat index in Chicago will reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit. There will be a call to increase the supply of electricity, and we will be faced with the choice of building expensive nuclear power plants or plants that burn the fossil fuels that contribute to the green house gases. Additionally, the warming trend will promote increases in the insect population and the spread of disease.

The long term effects are difficult to project with any accuracy because there are more variables involved than even our most sophisticated computer programs can handle, but some of the scenarios may be as follows:

The temperate zone will be forced northward, and current semi-arid areas will become desert as some tropical regions become semi-arid. The affect on world food and fresh water supplies will be severe as plant and animal life struggle to adjust to changing climatic conditions for which they are not adapted.

These and many events will cause much stress among the populations of the earth as governments struggle to cope with the relentless changes taking place. By the year 2050, it is expected that the earth's oceans will have risen by as much 3 feet due to melting of the polar ice caps. This could devastate coastal plains and cities throughout the world as nations struggle to build dikes to protect populations, property, food supplies, and infrastructure.

Humans, animals and plants could be devastated by diseases from new viruses that erupt in a changing ecology for which there is no natural immunity.

The rising ocean levels could create a shift in the weight distribution on the earth's crust and initiate increased volcanic activity and earthquakes that have not been seen in thousands of years. Increased volcanic activity would add to the pollutants in our atmosphere and hasten a doomsday scenario.

Other warning signs that are with us today include increases in human cancers, frog mutations which are being found in Minnesota and surrounding states, and the reproductive difficulties of alligators in Florida. Researchers have been unable to discover the cause of these anomalies but strongly suspect man made chemicals as the primary cause.

We are trapped in an artificial, sinful world of our own making. Political leaders are reluctant to impose the changes that would be necessary to affect a chance for our descendants to survive due to the impact on the economic and political structure of their nations. When they are finally forced to act it may be too late to avoid the end times.

The sound of trumpets is faintly heard but growing louder.