Fire and Ice: The End of the World
Extremes are more alike than they are different in climate change
Fire and ice seem to be extreme opposites. How are they the same? Robert Frost wrote this short poem called “Fire and Ice” in 1920.
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
The end of the world is the first line. Supposedly, the poet is indicating that fire represents desire (too much unbridled passion of extreme heat) and ice represents hate (too much coldness cut off by hatred). Both cause pain. Both cause destruction of human life and relationships.
According to one of Frost’s biographers, “Fire and Ice” was inspired by a passage in Canto 32 of Dante’s Inferno, in which the worst offenders of hell (the traitors) are submerged up to their necks in ice while in a fiery hell: “a lake so bound with ice, / It did not look like water, but like a glass…right clear / I saw, where sinners are preserved in ice.”
Fire and ice on a lake in Alaska
Fire and ice do not seem to mix, but there are existing together in Alaska. You can view the shooting flames coming through a hole in the ice. The amount of methane gas that is emitted from the tundra and Siberian region is far greater than any cows can produce in a lifetime. Some estimate that this has been going on for thousands of years.
Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas.
- Esieh Lake is in a part of Alaska that’s in the Arctic Circle.
- Each day the lake emits methane at a rate equivalent to about 6,000 cows.
- If more like it are found, it could be an ominous warning of things to come.
To see a flame come through the ice is an indicator.
Fire and ice side by side.
Fire far below the ice erupts on the surface, indicating that the earth itself is producing the climate change more than humans ever could.
“The lake, about 20 football fields in size, looked as if it was boiling. Its waters hissed, bubbled and popped as a powerful greenhouse gas escaped from the lake bed. Some bubbles grew as big as grapefruits, visibly lifting the water’s surface several inches and carrying up bits of mud from below.” — Big Think
Climate change
Others indicated that he was influenced by Shapley who said to him that “either the sun will explode and incinerate the Earth, or the Earth will somehow escape this fate only to end up slowly freezing in deep space.”
On a personal level, the sensation of a burn on the skin seems to be similar to frostbite of the cold. Both numb the feeling and cause damage.
Blizzards and fire storms are both destructive to natural environments.
The talk about carbon emissions and the heating of the earth is real. The statistics of responsibility are being documented and updated. As of 2020, China outranks all the others combined.
All people on the earth face real global issues.
The end of the world forecast by the Bible
Multiple passages and interpretations are contained in the Bible about the end times. The passage referring to the way the world will end is in 1 Peter 3:1–13, called “The Day of the Lord.”
Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
Whatever the future holds
Whatever the future holds for the earth and the inhabitants in it, one thing is for sure. It is changing. If ice is melting due to carbon emissions, permafrost changes that produce methane gas for the greenhouse effect, or supernatural timing, only God knows.
Be prepared. No one individual from the beginning to the end can be sure of what’s next with extremes of fire and ice.