Basic HTML Version
HUMAN
SURVIVAL
to .aruund 1890 was charactcriz.ed a3> a
''Ltnlr Ice Agc.. with its severc wmtert
anll gre:ucr extremes of weather. From
arounoJ the turn of thos century to ap–
proxmlatcly 1940 thc world cntcrcd
a
w,u·min¡; ;,p<ll. In thc Norlhcrn Hcnu–
sphcrc. parucularly. lhe average tcm–
perawre ro>e. according 10 onc e>tomate.
ulmO>I '"" degr<es FahrenheoL Dunng
thos bcnefi<-ent penod world populauon
doublcd and modero agricuhurc prO>–
percd
No" weather re;,ulung from thc
prc,cnt coohng lrcnd threatens 10
be–
come more unrehable for crop produc–
tiOn \Uth H!. gre.ucr seasonaJ
"anauon~
10
tcmperature
:~nd
moi..c;ture:.
Wlule scoenum dosagr<e as to 1he
cau;,c or pcrmanency of 1he earlh's cool–
ong. • weuhh of ob;,ervations from
weather
MHclluc~
and othcr
inMrumCnb
show;,
liS
maJOr dfect: A gradual expan·
ston
tn
rcccnt years of the
c~rcumpolar
voriCJI.
the great
acy
winds Lhut :o,wc:cp
lt~c
an undulaung skirt around the lOp
a
nd bouom of 1he planet.
h
•s felt by
man) weathermcn that in recent ye_.r.,
these expand111g \\tnds have pushed .,_
tul
mon~n
ram.s
oul
of
thctr
normal
palh> Jnd dumped them else"here.
Wea1her \.pse" Cau.""
a
Ruck:
A"a~ening
te
tool a -.enes of m:JJOf weather up·
...,., '"
~ey
food-producing arca> of the
world 10 JOh farmers and weathcrmcn 10
'u>pc:ct <Omethtng senousty
wrong
may be
dcvclopuiS tn world wea1hcr panerns.
A combmauon or
poor weathcr
cond1
tiOO)
uround
tht world in 1972 - m
lnd1a.
Ru~iu.
China.
Ausrr~lhl,
anJ Af·
roca
JU~I
abour woped out world food
reserves.
In 1974. ' '" unusually wel sptlng ovcr
much uf the U.S. oorn beh wa;, follo.,ed
by
a
drought tn thc G real Platns. fhen
carne Jn carly frost that reduced !r3tn
productton a t a penod
m
htStory when
gram rc\e!"·es wtre
ata '"·enty-year
lo'*" .
"1 don't bdte'e thc world'> prescnl
populauon
t<
;ustainable if lhere "ere
more lhdn threc ycars likc 1972 m
.l
row."
'3}S
Retd Bryson. cltmatologtsl at
lhe Untvt,.,lly or Wt>CODSIO. He ancl
nthcr "'eathermen ar< disturbed by !he
lac~
•lf
governmental concern about
w~athcr trcnd~
and thc failurc to cn–
couragc thc dcvelopment of euher
na
tu·
ral food reserves o r thc production and
d"'emtnnuon of more endurable crop
varn:ucs
Droughl Alrcady <herdue
f\4."(.'0rdtng
to leadmg_ weather offi·
ctals. • maJOr drougllt
tS
already O\trdue
m thc Amcncan Great Plains
nO\\
thc
world\ mo-.1 tmponanl breadbasket.
A
fc11. ycar> •go. Dr. Walter Orr Robert>.
dtrector of the Na11onal Centcr for At–
mo;,phcnc Rcsearch. $3od: "1 pcr-.on•lly
.1m watchtng Vcl)' rn1en1ly for
a
drought
tn
lhc mod-1970;
IR
the higb platos."
Dr. Robem aod olhers say 1he evt·
dcncc " prcuy conclusive thcrc ha\'C
been al leas! e•ght succcssive dry penod;
~u''
ofthe R.xkics spaccd 2010 23 years
ap:on. No one koows why lhcy occur.
ahhough thcrc are many theoroes . Ch·
matologtsts ncarly all agree. however.
that
a
drought
IR
America's hearlland
would have dosastrous elfects on thc
world
8
l>r lrvmg Knck. noted loog-r•ngc
"-C.Hhcr forecaster. Lold our rescarch
staO'· "Now we thmk that the laucr half
of thc sevcnucs will bring more genera l
drougiH. cxtcnding from the Southwc;,t
up. cncronchtng fanher nonh nnd
ea~t
uHo ohe gratn belt• of Kansas. thc corn
arca;, of lowa, llhnois. and so forth."
Or. Slephen H. Schnetdcr. research
>Ctcnust at lhc Bouldcr. Colorado.
'ACather
rc,~arch
center. also told our
tnlcrvtcwer;, recently: "1 would $3) 1ha1
1hc
odds
ofhaviRg droughl cond111ons '"
1he sevenues are probabl) htgher than
thc) "ere an thc: 'sxues wilhout
an)
1hc~
ory at
•11
JUSI beeause we'\c had
a
very
8o00
>lfCICh tn lhc last
fiftccn
yca~
m thc Unncd States."'
Technology 10 thc Rescue
ttow (.:an mankind mect the
threat
of
more unfnvorablc weather?
In an extended droughL massive trri·
gatton
•~ ~~
tempocary. nota permancnt.
sol
u
uon as ground and surface water
rc.ource> become
quic~ly
deplctcd .
Ltrgc·>CJic. antficially tnduc.:d ratn
(useles< to begtn wuh w11hou1 suffictenl
m•usture·bcanng cloud>) potcnually can
do
JS
much harm
as
good.
lncreasmg
ratnf"ll
111
one •rca by such melhodo
oflen mercl) robs anotller arca of tb
'1.1131 shoue• •
r
1t
doesn"t
ca~
other
h•voc
Wtlh thtlr prcsent >tale of mromplete
knowlcdge. mclcorolog•sts kno\\ thcy
ti;.~
re
no1
auempt
mas~ive
tntcrrercncc
'"
\\C3thc:r or thcy oould 111m
a
rcgtonal
ca l:amny
anto
a wtdcr catastrophe.
Yet
m
thc: 1mmcdmtc
future. favorable
weathcr
llnd
good
rain wtll be even more impor–
t~lnt
for human "urvival
than modcrn
1echnology. fcrtihLers . or fucl.
ls
Mankhtd
lielpless~
Wh)
w
much adverso weathcr'!
b
11
all
~ienuftcally
explaonable? More tm ·
portanl, "
man~md
lolall} helplcss be·
forc thc mnss" e and oomplex for= of
weather'! An ofien forgotten and
•&·
nored sourcc:, the Btble. r<veal> the an–
'"er. lt
•~
God who ulttmately control\
the v.eather.
Weather operates accordiog to phyM·
cal ond chen11callaws. The Crca1or
God
~et tho~e
laws
10
motion (Jcrcm tah
10: 13), but God's Word also rcvcal< he
1ntcrvcne) in those laws whenever neccs–
~'"Y
10 fulllll hos purposes (Job 37: 10·
13).
Our modern nauons are bringmg all
~tnd~
of cul'>es on themselves as lhe nol·
ural re;,ult of their own wrong wa)S
(Lc\lttcu; 26 and Deuleronom) 28
name <Ome of them). Weathermen are
no" s.tyong >Ome unfa•·orablc weather
.-on<ltll<ln~
may
be
roused b} mankmd's
prc>enl dtsharmony wilh nalure (sec
p. 10). Bul lhos may oot
be
thc only
cause of up;et "eather condtuons.
The Btblc conlams examples of God
changmg weather
p~lltc-rns
etthcr to
ble>-~
a
pcople or 10 punish naltons lbr
thetr mounung nauonnl sins.
God wnrned the stn-laden lsraelites
that, tfthey continucd m
thdr
•mquit1c:.,
he would withdraw his blessmgs- such
a1
ratn
lrom them: "Thercfore the
;,howe1'5 have been w11hheld, and the
'P"ng ram has not come" (Jeremtah
J:J.
RSV:
~ce
also Jer 14:22: lsa. 5:6)
Cunlmuou;,ly. God wamed the an·
aenl l'raelttes of the reason for pro–
traeccd \fXIIS
of inclement weathcr
" .. when hca\en ts
shut "P·
and lhere
·~
no ram.
M~ause
tltey hm-e smned agam.st
t!ru
"(1 Kings 8:35: sec also Amos
4:6·9)
God prom;..ed his peoplc: "lf ye
wal~
m
my Sl11llll"'. nnd
kecp
my cornmandrncnls,
and do them: 1hen 1will
git•e
you rain in
duc ;,cnson. and the land shall yield her
mercase. and thc trecs of the lield shall
yield 1he1r fruti" (Levoücus 26:3·4).
But God also gavc a propbcuc warn–
mg.
applocable
m
princtplt 10 any proud
natoon that fol'>akes God and rcfuses lo
tum from
liS
nauonal sans: ..., wlll brcal.
!he pnde of )OUr ro--er: and 1 '""
ma~e
)OUr heavcn a> tron (endless days or
scorchong sun
~
and }Our eanh
as
brass
(droughl·hardcned eanhl ... for your
land shall not y1eld hcr
mercase"
(\S.
19-
20)
In our resource-hungl) world. Amcr·
tea pndcs
u~elf
on us agncultural powcr
on
che mtcrnational
scene. But how
qutck ly 1hn1 "pndc" could be
bro~en
by
lhe onc whu ullimatcly controls thc
powcrlul forces of the wea1her!
A Pu,.cr Blggcr Than Wcalhcr
Oespue thc C\)ndutons or trend>. no
ndlton or pcople ts lotally helpless be·
lore thc uvnges ofwenther.
The cxamples of 1hc Boble revealthat
thc nght
~md
of pra)cr. or lack or it. can
chongc v.u1hcr onc way or the other
(J3m"
S
16-18). God
os
merciful
(Mal·
lhcw
5:45),
and he
sa)S he
wolltntcrvenc
wllh hcnlong
~>eather
tf a oation hum·
ble& 11\clf, seeks him
m
camesl prayer.
and turn:.
rrom 1t s
cvi l way$
( 11
Chrontcles 6:26-27:
7:
13-14).
God's promiscs and warning> con·
cernmg
wcather
and
agncuhural
pros–
penly are recorded for all n•toon> 10
heed. not JUSI aoctenl Israel. The Cre·
JlOr has a supreme purpose for man·
~tnd.
but n.tllOn> cverywbere.
m
e'ery
>phere ofactovil} - pbystCal. moral. and
~ponlual
are destroying themsei\C>
and
ruturc gcncrauons.
A c:once:med
God u"" upset wcathcr condthons as
bul one me3n.S. tf necasa.ry. to wam
nallons 10
turn
from
theu
erroneou~
WJ)>•
Y<>.
the future of
o/1 humaml)'
hang>.
now more than e•·er befote. on the for·
tunc:s
or
wcather.
l'erhnps !he mosl urgcnt and
pre;,~ing
qucsuon
to
discu~
al
rhc next anter..
nouonal foo<l conference
is
not what
sctent-e and money can doto hall lhrcat·
cning mass fummes. but the need for
nauon;, 10 1urn from lheir idolatrous
w:.y~
sn umc for God to mtervene m thc
weathcr for thctr
good.
o
MARCH
1976