Global Warming

We often hear complaints that the weather is getting hotter and humid nowadays.  This is all due to global warming and each of us has a part to play; either contributing to its worsening effect or helping to alleviate it.  Global warming has to do with the general increase in the average temperature arounnd the world.  It has been said that the increase is between 0.3 to 0.8 degree Celsius over the last 100 years.  And many experts are predicting a 4 degree rise in average temperature over the next 100 years.  Human activities like burning coal, oil and gas have added carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.  Cattle and rice fields also produce large amounts of methane gas.  Carbon dioxide and methane, among others, are known as greenhouse gases which trap the sun's warmth.  In the past, this natural greenhouse effect has kept the earth comfortably warm.  However, it is now becoming too hot for comfort. 

One of the effects of global warming is stormier weather patterns due to more energy being trapped inside the atmosphere.  Another possible effect is the melting of the polar ice caps which may result in the flooding of low-lying countries.  Many countries have agreed to try and reduce global warming by limiting their carbon footprint, starting with the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and working towards a new framework.  Let us play our part in conserving our natural heritage by reducing, reusing and recycling, and endeavour to use appliances with green ticks or labels.   Life on earth is also dependent on the layer ozone gas in the atmosphere, which helps to shield the sun's ultraviolet rays.  In 1982, scientists noticed a 50% loss of ozone over the Antarctica every spring.  This loss is due to manufactured gases, CFC, which drift up through the air and combine with the ozone.  CFCs (used in refrigerators and aerosols) were  banned in 1996 but the hole is still growing. 

The Bible tells us that the end of the world will come through a blazing fire.  "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare."   2 Pet 3:10 (NIV).  The destruction of the earth is now possible with the proliferation of nuclear weapons in many countries.  However, we also note that God is able to destroy the earth without nuclear weapons when he rained down fire on Sodom and Gomorrah.   If the heat of the day is unbearable today, much more terrible would be the heat to come.   The apostle Peter urged his readers,  "Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming." 2 Pet 3:11-12.  The call to holy living has never been greater than in our age when evil is rife and rampant, and only God's fire can purge it.