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THEWEATHER IN 1983
onto the Californian, Ecuadorian
and Peruvían coasts. Sorne scien–
tists suspect that the same mois–
ture-laden jet stream that dumped
so much rain on the U nited States
probably caused Western Europe's
wet weather this year by simply
pushing wet weather across the
Atlantic.
So how does El Niño tie in with
the drought in the Southern Hemi–
sphere?
Once again we asked Mr. Ras–
musson, who is one of the world's
leading experts on this phenome–
non . "When pressures are lower
than normal over the southeastern
Pacific," he noted, "they tend to be
higher than normal over Australia,
Indonesia, over the l ndian Ocean,
and perhaps over India and vice
versa."
Long-term studies indicate that
the appearance of an El Niño has
corresponded with five of India's
worst droughts since 1875 and nine
of Australia's since 1864.
The Lessons to Be Learned
Scientists have blamed El Niño for
the unusual worldwide weather
condit ions that developed in 1972-
73. Drought in the Soviet Union
and Ind ia during that . period,
according to one study, drop.ped
world cereal grain prod uction by 6
percent. At the same time, world
cereal grain prices rose a whopping
50 percent.
Many nations are having to turn
to grain reserves to get by this
drought. What about the next time
El Niño strikes in two or seven
years? What will the grain reserve
situation look like then?
Tradit ionally, nations faced with
famine have been able to turn to a
handful of countries blessed with
an abundance of grain and other
foods. That elite grain export club
of a half dozen nations includes the
United States, Canada, Argentina,
Australia, South Africa and Thai–
land-most of which now have
~een
affected by adverse weather
this year .
lt
is indeed ironic that in the
midst of great need, the biggest
exporter of all, the United States,
burdened by massive surpluses, has
decided to take farmland out of
production through a program
called Payment-in-Kind ( PIK) un-
26
der which farmers are given credit
for the value of their stored sur–
pluses for taking land out of pro–
duction. This program would leave
more than 82 million acres of U.S.
farmland untilled. Tbis may save
the U.S. farmer from bankruptcy,
but it does not bode well for the
futu re of poor, hungry nations.
More than 100 nations depend
upon the United States for grain
supplies.
It
is a relationship that
may prove to be fatal in the future.
In tbei r beadlong pursuit of prog–
ress, many developing nations have
sorely neglected their agricultura!
sectors. By concentrating on steel
milis, other industrial ventures or
monoculture cash crops, many
What caused our
meteorological miseries
this year? And what
lessons should we learn
from this widespread
weather disaster?
nations are no longer able to feed
themselves. Government agencies
that regulate farro goods prices
have also nearly ruined agriculture
in severa) countries.
These shortsighted policies will
come back to haunt many nations in
the coming years. T hat day of reck–
oning may be sooner than many
would like to believe. Forecasts by
the Food and Agriculture Organi–
zation (FAO) ind icate that world
grain production is expected to drop
this year by more than 100 million
tons. Sorne meteorolqgists are pre–
dicting that the drought may persist
in sorne regions for as long as seven
more years.
There was a time when a nation
faced with the prospect of bad
weather did actually do something
about it. That nation was ancient
Egypt, the most powerful nation of
its day. Egypt, at that time, was
blessed with remarkable leaders.
You may recall from the biblical
account how J oseph was inspired by
God to interpret Pharaoh's dream.
Later Joseph was put in charge of
preparing the nation for the coming
lean years. lt was indeed a critica!
role. But too often we forget that
Joseph was able to do what he did
because he had the full support of
the man above him. Pharaoh was
wise enough to take good advice and
to take the necessary actions to
implement that advice (Gen. 41:33-
40).
Today we have only a few
Josephs- and no Pharaohs. Leaders
today make decisions, more often
than not, based on what is popular,
not what is right or best for the
nation in the long run. They are
truly the blind leading the blind
(see Matthew 15:14).
The Bible shows that from
ancient times God has allowed–
and sometimes caused- adverse
weather conditions to strike nations
as punisbment for wrong doing (see
Deuteronomy 28:22, last part, and
Job 37). In I Kings 17-18, God used
drought t :.>
warn an idolatrous
ancient Israel to turn from its false
gods. Today God is using that same
instrument to warn an unrepentant
humanity to turn from its modero
false gods, its lusts and its greed.
Jesus warned, nearly 2,000 years
ago, of the signs of the end of the
age. They include famines and
other natural disasters (Matt. 24:3-
8).
Now, upset weather condi tions
and poor national agricultura] plan–
ning are making widespread famine
a real possibility for much of
humanity. The weather we experi–
enced
in
1983 is merely a foretaste
of disaster-a prophesied disaster
for which mankind is wholly unpre–
pared .
Nevertheless, there is good rea–
son for hope. The world will soon be
given a new lease on life by divine
intervention in human affairs. The
return of Jesus Christ wiJI usher in
a new age. An age where nations
will be blessed with wise, righteous,
caring leadership. An age in which
all nations will sit under their own
vine and enjoy the fruits of thei r
labor and the blessings of good
weather and prosperity their C re–
ator has in store for a repentant
humanity. For a glimpse at that
new coming utopía, write for your
free copy of
The Wonderful World
Tomor r ow: What
/ t
Will Be
Like.
o
The PLAIN TRUTH