livingentity Posted August 10, 2003 Report Share Posted August 10, 2003 Melting Alpine glaciers unleashed a cascade of rocks, London choked in a record 100-degree temperatures and with wildfires raging in seven countries, the pope urged people to pray for rain. Europe sizzled this weekend, and there was no immediate relief in sight for much of the continent. The heat also broke a record in Germany, and a French toddler died of exposure in a sweltering parked car. With the mercury hovering around 100F (39C) for days, more than 40 deaths have been blamed on the heat. In the French Alps, a police officer warned hikers about rock avalanches along a popular route on Mont Blanc. Glacial ice is melting, loosening rocks from the mountainside. On Saturday, helicopters swooped into the area to evacuate 44 climbers in danger, police said. In more arid regions, wildfires have blackened forests in Italy, France, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Croatia and the Netherlands. Three separate fires were blazing in Portugal on Sunday, with the worst in the southern region of Algarve. Pinus Verde, an association of forest-product producers, analyzed satellite images from NASA to calculate forestland destroyed in two weeks of blazes: 741,316 acres, according to daily Publico. In northeastern Italy, firefighters worked for a third-straight day to put out a fire in the countryside near Udine. Pope John Paul II was spending time in a papal palace in Castel Gandolfo, a lakeside town generally cooler than Rome. The pope told visiting tourists and pilgrims Sunday that he was worried about the drought-fed deadly wildfires. "I invite all to join in my prayers for the victims of this calamity, and I exhort all to raise to the Lord fervent entreaties so that He may grant the relief of rain to the thirsty Earth," John Paul said. A three-year-old girl died Saturday in a car parked outside her parents' home in Wimille in northern France, authorities said. The parents apparently lost track of who was watching her -- each thought the little girl was with the other, police said. In Germany, authorities are predicting a new record number of drownings this year. Cash-strapped municipalities have closed free swimming pools, forcing more Germans to head to rivers and lakes to escape the heat, where there is less supervision. Klaus Wilkens, president of the German Lifesaving Society, told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that his organization was predicting 700 deaths by drowning by the end of the summer, compared with 598 last year. This weekend alone, at least three people drowned in Germany's rivers and lakes, including a 10-year-old girl. "The closing of the pools must be stopped," Wilkens said. The German weather service reported Sunday it had registered a new countrywide temperature record in the Bavarian city of Roth, which hit nearly 105 degrees on Saturday. The previous record of 104 was also in Bavaria, set in 1983. Britons also gasped through a record-breaking day, watching thermometers climb above the 100 for the first time in Britain since temperatures have been recorded. The record-breaker -- 100.22 degrees -- was measured at Heathrow Airport, near a parched and baking London, the national weather service said. No quick relief was expected: Germany is expected to swelter until midweek; France is counting on at least another week of abnormally high temperatures; and weather experts in Italy expect the country to be steamy until September. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingentity Posted August 10, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2003 CASTELGANDOLFO, Italy (Reuters) -- Pope John Paul asked God on Sunday to shower down rain on a scorched Europe, where fires have killed several dozen people and destroyed tens of thousands of acres. The 83-year-old pope was speaking to hundreds of pilgrims and tourists who braved the heat and humidity and packed the courtyard of his summer residence south of Rome for one of his twice-weekly summer appearances. "I ask you to join me in my prayer for the victims of this calamity and urge all of you to ask the Lord fervently to grant the thirsty Earth the coolness of rain," he said. "Vast fires have broken out these days in several European nations, with particular intensity in Portugal, causing deaths and enormous damage to the environment." "This is a worrying emergency which, fuelled by persistent drought but also by human responsibility, is threatening the environmental patrimony, which is a precious good for all humanity," he said. The pope, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, appeared in relatively good condition and read his address clearly. In Portugal alone, fires have killed 15 people and devastated huge areas of woodland. Fires have also raged in several areas of Italy and officials say some of them were started deliberately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 10, 2003 Report Share Posted August 10, 2003 If the devotees performed the sankitana yajna then the Lord would certainly be pleased and send rain. Yes? Or is it too much of an order supplier kind of thing to ask the Lord to grant us rain? Maybe people need to suffer this harsh drought in order to turn to God for help. Yes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinimat Posted August 12, 2003 Report Share Posted August 12, 2003 Since we have been neglecting the laws of nature, the earth (under Krishna's will) is cleaning itself. Some people are so ignorant of Krishna, that they will be forced to suffer until we all turn to and surrender unto Krishna. It's stated that the suffering in Kali Yuga is going to only increase. If we just chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, they we can become free from this earth and this suffering. Some people only learn the hard way /images/graemlins/smile.gif Harebol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priitaa Posted August 13, 2003 Report Share Posted August 13, 2003 In answer to your question, "What's going on?" it could be that Mars is retrograding closer toward earth that it ever has in recorded history of over 5.000 years and unrecorded history is suspected to be around 30,000! However, I agree that if we only would chant the Lords Holy Names, if we went out on Harinama for example, we could have a significant effect. We did this in the late 70s and Prabhupada said we stopped WW III for starting, twice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonehearted Posted August 13, 2003 Report Share Posted August 13, 2003 Pritha: I agree that if we only would chant the Lords Holy Names, if we went out on Harinama for example, we could have a significant effect. We did this in the late 70s and Prabhupada said we stopped WW III for starting, twice! Where'd he say that? Late '70s? Was that before 1977? We did it even more in the late '60s and early '70s, and it had a really significant effect: we became attached to chanting Hare Krishna! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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