When Kali-yuga is going to end only after 4,27,000 years, why do some devotees quote mundane prophecies about imminent world destruction?

From: Devdatt

H.H. Bhakti Tirtha Swami in his book Spiritiual Warrior part 3 “solace for the heart at difficult times says that there are many profecies about destruction of the world in near times. According to Mayain tradition the date predicted is 2012. Also there is book by ISKCON devotee Sahadev Prabhu “End of human civilisation”. However according to whater tiny knowledge I received from scriptures end of Kali- Yuga is going to be 4,27,000 years later then what is the basis of such predictions even by devotees?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna.
According to Mayan tradition, the date predicted is 2012. Also there is a book by Escondevaru Sahadev Prabhu, End of Human Civilization. However, according to whatever time knowledge I received from scriptures, end of Kali Yuga is going to be 427000 years later.
And what is the basis of such predictions given by devotees? Answer? These Vaishnavas are surely not referring to the destruction that is happening, that will happen at the end of Kali Yuga. At the same time, the destruction is not something that is restricted to the times of Pralaya. Destruction can happen at other times also.
At one level, World War II was itself a big destruction. And if human beings abuse nature, nature will produce reactions. The tsunami that came about 8 years ago was also a big destruction.
So the way we humans are misusing the ecology, that can produce mass karmic reactions at a very very devastating level. And that can lead to large scale destruction. So it may not lead to the wiping out of civilization.
And neither Prakriti Maharaj nor Sathe Prabhu are talking in terms of wiping out the complete destruction of the world or the wiping out of all humanity. They are talking about significant and sometimes devastating upheavals that can come in the way we have been living. So the important principle to understand over here is that the universe works in its own way.
And it will get destroyed at its own time. At the same time, if we interfere with the workings of nature in a thoughtless and reckless way, that involves creating bad karma. And creating bad karma will bring karmic reactions.
So essentially if you look at what Prakriti Maharaj and Sathe Prabhu are talking about is that we need to re-adjust our lifestyles. We need to bring ourselves in a more sattvic and spiritual lifestyle so that we can get purified and harmonized. And only by that will we be able to minimize the destruction that comes in the future.