Humans almost went into extinction four times. The first time was around 150,000 years ago when the atmosphere became very dry right across the world, especially in central, eastern and southeastern Africa where all known humans lived. It’s estimated that the human population at this time could have dropped down to under 2,000 people.

The second near-extinction event was around 70,000 years ago following the super-eruption of a Sumatran volcano called Toba. It’s estimated that Toba ejected roughly 10,000 times more ash and gas than the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption did; and was big enough to significantly dim the sun’s light globally for up to 4-6 years, resulting in worldwide cooling and a massive dying of vegetation. This brought the human population down to between 2,000 and 5,000 people.

After this early humans began their migration out of Africa and around the world, because once the ecosystem stabilized following the eruption a ‘green corridor’ all the way up the east side of Africa and along the Nile Valley opened, enabling our ancestors to cross what had formerly been an impassable desert, and spread throughout the world within just the next 35-45,000 years.

Now there is new evidence that Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis lived side by side was consistent with genomic evidence that the two species occasionally interbred. It also feeds the suspicion that the invasion of Europe and Asia by modern humans some 40-50,000 years ago helped drive the Neanderthals, who had occupied the area for more than 500,000 years, to extinction.

Now a human induced fifth extinction is starting. In the USA 941 of all plants species and 737 of all animal species: including 171 Fishes, 93 Clams and 92 Insects species etc. were listed as threatened or endangered in 2025.

A new international study published in Scientific Reports warns that Africa’s forests, once vital allies in the fight against climate change, have turned from a carbon sink into a carbon source. This alarming shift happened after 2010, and underscores an urgent need for stronger global action to protect forests.

Climate change is one aspect of the man-made environmental catastrophe, which is the biggest world wide crisis humanity has ever confronted. It is unprecedented in seriousness and impact. The speed of change is surprising everyone, including climate scientists.

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the strongest ocean current on the planet. It’s five times stronger than the Gulf Stream and more than 100 times stronger than the Amazon River. It forms part of the global ocean “conveyor belt” connecting the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. The system regulates Earth’s climate and pumps water, heat and nutrients around the globe.

People around the world suffered an average of 41 extra days of very dangerous heat last year because of human-caused climate change, according to a group of scientists who also said that climate change worsened much of the world’s damaging weather throughout 2024.

The majority of Christians, Jews, and Muslims do not believe that all of humanity is moving closer and closer to many catastrophic nature Judgement Days. The minority who do think that Judgement Day is coming soon share the usual negative, fear-filled views of most end-times thinkers: Christians, Jews and especially Muslims, who do believe that: “The hour (of Judgement) is near” (Qur’an 54:1); and ˹The time of˺ people’s judgment has drawn near, yet they heedlessly turn away.” (Qur’an 21:1)

The Greek word Armageddon is a transliteration of the Hebrew Har Megiddo, a mountain near Megiddo (80 miles north of Jerusalem), a hilltop fortification built by King Ahab, that dominated the Plain of Jezreel. Har Magedon is the symbol of a battle in which, when the need is greatest and believers are most oppressed, God suddenly reveals His power to distressed peoples and the evil enemies are destroyed.

Armageddon is a warning of humanity’s need to change to avoid Armageddon. The term “apocalypse” comes from the Greek word “apokalypsis,” meaning “revelation.” Although often associated today with the end of the world, apocalypses in ancient Jewish thought were a source of encouragement in times of great hardship or persecution.

In prophetic, rabbinic, and mystical thought, the Hebrew idioms commonly rendered as “end of days” never imply a cataclysmic conclusion, but rather the culmination and transfiguration of history. The phrase Aḥarīt ha-Yamim (אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים) literally means “the afterward of the days,” that is, what follows—not what ceases. Yaʿqov’s blessing in Genesis 49:1, be-Aḥarīt ha-Yamim (בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים), is interpreted by the Sages as bayamim ha-baʾim (בַּיָּמִים הַבָּאִים), “in the coming days,” emphasizing future rather than final.¹ Likewise, the rabbinic term Yemot ha-Mashiaḥ (יִמוֹת הַמָּשִׁיחַ), “the days of the Messiah,” denotes not a cosmic annihilation but a transformation within the created order.

Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam has a powerful eschatological strain. It anticipates the end to the world as we know it; a final historical confrontation between good and evil (Armageddon); after which, with God’s help, human life will be rewarded and transformed.

As the Qur’an states: ”Verily! Those who believe and those who are Jews, Christians, and Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, and do righteous good deeds, shall have their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.” (2:62 and 5:69) Notice that the Qur’an specifically stresses religious pluralism applies on God’s judgment day.

And Pope Francis said: ‘All Religions Are Paths To God’ This is a new and very strong support for religious pluralism. Yet a Pew Research Center poll found that in South and Southeast Asia 55-60% of all Muslims believe in the Madhi’s imminent return; and in the Middle East and North Africa 51% do.

A hadith says Jesus, will return to a place east of Damascus and join forces with the Islamic messiah, the Mahdi, in a battle against the false messiah, the one eyed Dajjal, Armilos in Jewish tradition.

As ibn Babuya writes in Thawab ul-A’mal, “The Apostle of God said: `There will come a time for my people when there will remain nothing of the Qur’an except its outward form, and nothing of Islam except its name, and they will call themselves by this name even though they are the people furthest from it. The mosques will be full of people but they will be empty of right guidance.

“The religious leaders (Fuqaha) of that day will be the most evil religious leaders under the heavens; sedition and dissension will go out from them and to them will it return.” This sounds, and indeed is, terrible. But, those who trust in God know that the night is coldest in the last hours before sunrise.

Secularists believe that these apocalyptic visions of a future (Armageddon) are absurd, although many secularists themselves fervently believe that run away genetic modification of food and/or extreme climate change is going to doom human civilization in future generations.

The basic difference between the pessimistic, humanist secularists and the religious optimists is that those who believe in the God of Abraham also believe that God’s inspiration and guidance guarantees that the spiritual forces of good, will overcome all the world’s evils at the end of days; and justice, peace and religious pluralism will prevail.

Or as Prophet Micah envisions (Micah 4:1-5) “In the end of days the mountain of the Lord’s Temple will be established as the highest mountain; it will be exalted above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. Many (not all) nations will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God of Jacob. who will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.

“Torah will be broadcast from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. God will judge between many (not all) peoples and will settle disputes among powerful nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into ploughs, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more.

“Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig-tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken. All the nations will walk in the name of their gods, and we (Jews) will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.”

Thus, the Bible and the Qur’an’s final judgement is the self-destruction of violent, hate filled, religion twisted terrorism and narrow ‘my way or death’ philosophy (Armageddon); and the victory of kindness, love, democracy and religious pluralism.

The Qur’an refers to Prophet Abraham as a community or a nation: “Abraham was a nation/community [Ummah]; dutiful to God, a monotheist [hanif], not one of the polytheists.” (16:120) If Prophet Abraham is an Ummah then fighting between the descendants of Prophets Ishmael and Isaac is a civil war and should always be avoided. Remember: “The very earth itself is a granary and a seminary,” said Henry David Thoreau  “and every seed means not only birth; but rebirth.

But there will be no peace until both Palestinians and Israelis declare the chant ‘From the river to the sea’ becomes an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, and not death, destruction, or hate. We can make it truly aspirational by making it focus on both peoples first, and the land second. “From the river to the sea Palestinians and Israelis should be freed of hatred and suffering by ‘a two state for two peoples sharing of the land peacefully solution.’”

If all Arabs and Jews can live up to the ideal that ‘the descendants of Abraham’s sons should never make war against each other’ is the will of God; we can help fulfill the 2700 year old vision of Prophet Isaiah: “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. On that day Israel  will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing upon the heart. The LORD of Hosts will bless them, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.” (Isaiah 19:23-5)

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)