Global Changes

Earth Could Be Unrecognizable By 2050 - A harrowing story from discovery.com is focused on population growth and dwindling resources. The bottom line: western economies and "progress" are predicated on growth. But growth relies on natural resources, which are finite. It's getting more expensive to find and extract oil and natural gas - look at how commodity prices have spiked in just the last year, the result of natural disasters coupled with rising demand for food staples worldwide. Researchers warned at a major US science conference Sunday - "A growing, more affluent population competing for ever scarcer resources could make for an "unrecognizable" world by 2050."
The United Nations has predicted the global population will reach seven billion this year, and climb to nine billion by 2050, "with almost all of the growth occurring in poor countries, particularly Africa and South Asia." To feed all those mouths, "WE WILL NEED TO PRODUCE AS MUCH FOOD IN THE NEXT 40 YEARS AS WE HAVE IN THE LAST 8,000. By 2050 we will not have a planet left that is recognizable" if current trends continue. But incomes are also expected to rise over the next 40 years - tripling globally and quintupling in developing nations - and add more strain to global food supplies. People tend to move up the food chain as their incomes rise, consuming more meat than they might have when they made less money. It takes around seven pounds (3.4 kilograms) of grain to produce a pound of meat, and around three to four pounds of grain to produce a pound of cheese or eggs. "More people, more money, more consumption, but the same planet." Scientists and governments were urged to start making changes now to how food is produced. Population experts, meanwhile, called for more funding for family planning programs to help control the growth in the number of humans, especially in developing nations. "For 20 years, there's been very little investment in family planning, but there's a return of interest now, partly because of the environmental factors like global warming and food prices. We want to minimize population growth, and the only viable way to do that is through more effective family planning." Global disaster watch

Yes scary and yes we are living in the 'end of days'. As Judaism teaches us that all the souls have to come down to the world in order to see what Hashem will do as is written in the Aleinו l'shabeiach prayer: כל בני בשר יקראו בשמך, ....יכירו וידעו כליושבי תבל כי לך תכרע כל ברך תשבע כל לשון....ויקבלו כלם את טול מלכותך
'then all humanity will call upon You....All the world's inhabitants will recognize and know ...and they will all accept upon themselves the yoke of Your kingship.
Do not despair.

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Human Planet

Dangerous weather and Redemption

Severe weather conditions reported to for the U.S.A. north west.

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CHICAGO - A monster winter storm had the central U.S. gearing up its defenses on Monday against a potentially deadly mix of sleet, snow and ice that could affect 100 million people by the time it blows through the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. While record snowfalls have pounded the Northeast in what's shaping up to be one of that region's most brutal winters, the Midwest has been comparatively unscathed. Not this time: Up to two feet of snow was forecast for some cities, and the storm was expected to carve a frigid path from Colorado to New England by week's end. Thunderstorms and tornadoes were possible farther south.

Australia: SYDNEY — A strong tropical cyclone roaring toward Australia's flood-ravaged northeast will likely cause powerful and deadly flash-flooding, officials warned Tuesday, as residents braced for what's predicted to be one of the fiercest storms the region has ever seen.

Japan: A volcano in southern Japan erupted again today, its most powerful explosion since it roared back to life last week, sending ash over a wide area and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents. Experts are concerned that the worst activity is yet to come. Lava is building up in the crater as a result of pressure from below, although it is not clear whether the eruptions will produce enough lava to spill over the rim and down the mountainside.
Quote rabbi Nir Ben Artzi: "Volcanoes, earthquakes, severe storm winds will hurt every country outside of the Holy Eretz Yisrael. The Creator of the World is raising a standard – every week it’s higher and this won’t cease until the world’s repair is finished."