Page 62 - The Day of Judgment

60 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT

dubious technical distinction of being able to make our own disasters,
both intentional and inadvertent. On the landscapes of other planets
where the records of the past have been preserved, there is abundant
evidence of major catastrophes. It is all a matter of time scale. An event
that would be unthinkable in a hundred years may be inevitable in a
hundred million. Even on Earth, even in our own century, bizarre

natural events have occurred. 7
It would not be surprising to see the universe destroyed by some
of the things mentioned earlier. Maybe all of the things Allah says
will happen on the Day of Judgment will happen because Earth's
equilibrium will be damaged. No doubt, damaging the faultlessly
functioning order could cause many catastrophes, and maybe, the
Last Day, which some people consider unlikely or far in the future,
is just round the corner.

THE PROBABLE CAUSES OF EARTH'S DEATH

The countless factors that enable our world to continue its
existence must be present at the same time and in the same way as
they are. Many scientists are studying how to preserve these natural
balances. A small example: Scientists and environmentalists predict
that it will not be possible to reduce the economic and
environmental damage caused by the consumption of such fossil
fuels as oil and coal. Experts in the field say that the following
8
disaster scenarios will be caused by the escalating consumption of
fossil fuels in the very near future:
1. The deltas of the world's greatest rivers, like the Ganges or the
Nile, will be flooded and lost, and one-quarter of Bangladesh's
territory, together with all of China's deltas, will be underwater.