World News and Trends: Don't overlook the weather
In January extreme weather was a worldwide phenomenon.
Snow and ice gripped Europe while storms battered the western United States and parts of Asia. Nations can quickly recover from weather-related calamities. But sometimes the worst weather can have lasting effects. Consider the winter of 1947 in Europe. Recently Barry Turner recalled that big chill in a Sunday Times feature article:
"Fifty years ago, Europe suffered its worst winter on record. The snow falls buried Britain's brief dream of socialism and led to [West] Germany's resurgence as a dominant force in Europe . . . [It was] the cold snap that shaped the post-war world."
Snow fell in some parts of Britain from January 27 to March 17, continuing in the Pennines mountain range until June. Widespread flooding followed the bitter cold, devastating thousands of acres of cropland and forcing a financially strapped Britain (her strength sapped by the war) to pay for expensive foodstuffs from overseas.
Before World War II Great Britain's assets totaled some £3 billion; at war's end the nation owed that much. Weather conditions greatly exacerbated her financial condition. According to a Sunday Times article, the winter of 1947 was the worst since record-keeping began. Writers described the onslaught as bringing "the longest period without the sun," "the lowest average temperature," "the fiercest snowstorms" and "the deepest drifts."
The Continent was hit hard as well. Wrote Mr. Turner: "On the continent the icy cold had an instant political impact, triggering Marshall aid from America and consolidating Western Europe as a bulwark against communism, anchored to a resurgent Germany" (emphasis ours). West Germany received well over $400 million in Marshall aid, helping to enable a relatively quick recovery. The hard-working German nation abolished rationing six years before Britain did.
"If the winter of 1947 has to take much of the blame for turning American favour towards Germany as the driving force for a new Europe, it also stalled the British economic recovery."
We should never overlook the weather's potential role in the fulfillment of prophecy. (Sources: The Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: March - April 1997
Course Content
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
Scott Ashley
Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.
