Four Degrees

Published by DonDavidson on

The average global temperature is the average of temperature readings taken throughout the year all over the world. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the average global temperature in 2021 made it one of the seven warmest years on record, about 1.11º Centigrade (almost 2º Fahrenheit) warmer than the average global temperature during the pre-industrial times of the late 19th century.[1] And the other six years have all been in the past seven years. In fact, every decade since 1980 has been warmer than the preceding decade.

The earth is getting warmer, and the reason is the increasing amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere as a result of burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas.

Assuming we stay on the path we are on, climate scientists tell us that the average global temperature will be about four degrees Centigrade (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial times within the next forty to fifty years—and perhaps even sooner.[2]  Earth has not seen temperatures that warm for five million years—long before mankind emerged as the dominant species on the planet. What will an increase of four degrees mean?

Let’s start with the obvious—heat waves. Four degrees is merely a global average. The increase over large land masses will be higher, probably more like six degrees (10.8º Fahrenheit) over much of the United States. That will lead to more and longer droughts in some areas. (In fact, we are already seeing that in the western United States, as I pointed out in two prior blog entries: here and here.)

As a result of heat waves and droughts, crop yields will drop by sixty percent or more. Imagine what that will do to the world economy, not to mention world hunger.

Because warmer air can hold more moisture, storms and hurricanes will be more severe (another topic I have discussed in a prior blog entry).

The massive amount of ice in Greenland will eventually melt, as will much of the even more massive amount of ice in Antarctica. This will raise ocean levels enough to swamp two-thirds of the world’s major cities, as well as almost all of Florida.

If you would like to learn more about climate change, including how it may be fulfilling biblical prophecy, please read “Apocalypse Soon,” which is chapter 11 of my book, Beyond Blind Faith. You can read “Apocalypse Soon” in its entirety, for free, by clicking here.


[1] https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/2021-one-of-seven-warmest-years-record-wmo-consolidated-data-shows

[2] This discussion is based in part on “Four Degrees,” which is the final chapter of the book, Don’t Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired To Ignore Climate Change, by George Marshall (Bloomsbury Publishing, New York, 2014).


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