A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford
When my mother was a child, she told me, there was one whole year when the sunsets were spectacular. Why? A major volcano had erupted somewhere in the world, and the debris made the sunset skies glorious for a whole year.
I recently read a history of the Roman occupation of Great Britain. I was surprised to read of major climate changes in the 250’s A.D. in the U.K. For about ten years, the weather was so cold, the scholars wrote, that crops failed and famine killed hundreds. The cause of the cold weather? The book says simply, “volcanic activity.”
It turns out that when a major volcano erupts, (and there are dozens of active volcanos right now all over the world) it sends sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere. That reacts with water vapor to form sulfate aerosols, which reflect sunlight back into space, reducing the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth’s surface.
Just this year, in March, the US government announced, “Volcanic eruptions can lead to a volcanic winter, causing severe food shortages and potential famines worldwide.”
Could this affect how we view global warming? Perhaps it should. Tropical marine fossils have been found at the 29,000-foot summit of Mount Everest, which prove some sort of drastic upheavel in terrain and climate. But North America also experienced an “ice age,” when glaciers carried big boulders south that carved out Minnesota’s thousand lakes. This old earth obviously has seen many wide variations in climate temperatures. So should we fear global warming? No. Of course we ought to take good care of this beautiful earth God created for us. But our eternal God has been, and is, and will be, in control of our earth’s weather.
The Bible gives us the history of the world flood that happened in Noah’s day, which sheds comforting and reassuring light on this. In a world-wide flood, that covered the tops of the highest mountains, God obliterated every human being and every breathing creature except for one family. He’d given Noah the task of building an ark to His specifications. So that Noah’s family and the animals “of every kind” that took refuge in the ark were saved. The devastation was awful, and God vowed never again to destroy the earth by a flood. He’d sent the flood as punishment for the horrible sins of nations at that time. “But,” He said, “Never again.”
The Lord said,
“I will never again destroy all living things. . . .
As long as the earth remains,
there will be planting and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night.” Genesis 8:21,22
Our Almighty God, who has infinite power and infinite love, is still in control of our world. He created it for our enjoyment and comfort. When we trust Him, we do not need to fear the future, whatever it may bring. Thank God, our Eternal God is forever in control!