Fires in Spain and floods elsewhere.

Spain and Portugal are experiencing one of the worst forest fire seasons in recent history.  Forest fires have consumed three times as much area in Spain (January 1-August 5) as they did last year.  Fires also rage fiercely in Spain’s Canary Islands.  About 10 percent of the island of La Gomera has burned, including a quarter of a UNESCO World Heritage nature preserve.  Thousands have been evacuated (BBC, August 14, 2012).  In Portugal, fires have burned twice as great an area as last year (CTV News, August 14, 2012).  A dry winter, hot temperatures and dry winds have combined to make this the worst fire season in years.

Record temperatures and lack of rain have resulted in many comparing the drought in the central U.S. to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.  In fact, July 2012 was the hottest month ever recorded in the “lower 48” states, since records began in 1895 (AP, August 9, 2012).

Meanwhile, floods are devastating Nigeria (Daily Trust, August 14, 2012) and the Philippines (One News Now, August 14, 2012).

Bible prophecies indicate that weather at the end of the age will be extreme, with flooding in some cities while others suffer from drought (Amos 4:7).  Although these prophecies apply specifically to the Israelite-descended nations, weather events very obviously affect the entire globe.  For more information on upcoming extreme weather events prophesied in the Bible, be sure to review our eye-opening booklet entitled, Who Controls the Weather?