The Coming Climate
THE pollution of our atmosphere is but one of the environmental problems that humans have created. Others include massive deforestation, the destruction of animal species, and the pollution of rivers, lakes, and oceans. Each of these problems has been carefully analyzed, and proposals have been made to correct them. Since the problems are global, they call for global solutions. There is widespread agreement on the problems and what might be done to correct them. Year after year, we hear calls to action. Year after year, little is done. All too often policymakers lament the problems and agree that something must be done but add, in effect, “not by us, not right now.”
In 1970 on the original Earth Day, demonstrators in New York City carried a large sign. The sign depicted planet Earth screaming “Help!!” Will anyone respond to that plea? God’s Word provides the answer: “Do not put your trust in nobles, nor in the son of earthling man, to whom no salvation belongs. His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish.” (Psalm 146:3, 4) The psalmist next points to the Creator, for He alone has the power, wisdom, and will to solve all the complex problems facing humanity. We read: “Happy is the one . . . whose hope is in Jehovah his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, of the sea, and of all that is in them.”—Psalm 146:5, 6.
The Creator’s Loving Promise
The earth is a gift from God. He designed and created it, along with all the complex and marvelous mechanisms that make the earth’s climate a pleasant one. (Psalm 115:15, 16) The Bible states: “[God] is the Maker of the earth by his power, the One firmly establishing the productive land by his wisdom, and the One who by his understanding stretched out the heavens. At his voice there is a giving by him of a turmoil of waters in the heavens, and he causes vapors to ascend from the extremity of the earth. He has made even sluices for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.”—Jeremiah 10:12, 13.
The Creator’s love for humankind was described by the apostle Paul to the people of ancient Lystra. He said: “[God] did not leave himself without witness in that he did good, giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts to the full with food and good cheer.”—Acts 14:17.
The future of the planet does not depend on the efforts and treaties of humans. Concerning the climate, the One having the power to control it promised his ancient people: “I shall also certainly give your showers of rain at their proper time, and the land will indeed give its yield, and the tree of the field will give its fruit.” (Leviticus 26:4) Soon people will enjoy such conditions earth wide. Never again will obedient humans dread destructive storms, tidal waves, floods, droughts, or any other natural disaster.
Waves, wind, and weather will all be a delight. People may still talk about the weather, but they will not do anything about it. In the future of God’s making, life will be so glorious that they will not need to.