Middle East Hot Spots

I haven't been trained in end-time prophecies, but there seems to me to be more activity in the Middle East and that it is escalating. With war in Afghanistan and Iraq, with nuclear tensions in Iran and North Korea, with Israel fighting against Hamas and Hezbollah, now in Lebanon backed by Syria and Iran, it seems that the world stage is becoming increasingly volatile. Is this a precursor to a final global war pitting alliances of countries against others? If I were an unbeliever in Jesus, I think I would be at least considering a global war might be dangerous to my existence, but that if it were also the last war, the end of life on earth might be closer than we used to think.

Also, the increase of natural disasters of powerful hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, and global warming would lead me to believe that the Earth is not as stable as it once was. These climatic disasters might also indicate a climactic close to life as we know it .