Authority on Nostradamus and prophetic traditions, 
John Hogue, discussed  how September will be the most dramatic month of the year with seismic  activity hitting not only nature, but the economy, politics, and the  Middle East. He foresees seven different earthshaking events to occur,  or get their start in September 2011: United Nations declares Palestine a  sovereign state. The European bank crisis worsens. Recession in the US  returns. Hurricane season peaks. Syria has a civil war. Israeli/Middle  East war takes place. Earthquakes/tsunamis caused by Comet Elenin.
The  Arab-Israeli war could be a short but violent one, in which the  Israelis knock out a group such as Hamas, and ironically this could then  lead to peace talks, he said. More on the seven seismic events, here.

Hogue  talked about how there is no connection between Nostradamus' prophecies  and those related to 2012. Nostradamus did single out the year 1999 as  significant, and Hogue noted that it was around then that a gradual  change of historic seasons began, as we switched from a Piscean to  Aquarian age. Hogue said he stands by his prediction that Obama will be  reelected in 2012. He also foresees the decade of the 2020s as the most  upheaval-filled time in human history, when climate change, population  stresses, and other factors reach a critical mass.
Biography:
John  Hogue writes on the subjects of the occult, parapsychology, mysticism  and prophecy. He is considered a world authority on Nostradamus and is  the best-selling author of numerous books, including Nostradamus: The  Complete Prophecies and Nostradamus: The New Millennium, The Millennium  Book of Prophecy, The Last Pope, and Messiahs: The Visions and  Prophecies for the Second Coming. His work has brought him international  acclaim. He has been published in 18 languages and sold over one  million copies worldwide. In addition, he has appeared on over 700 radio  and television shows on three continents.
Wikipedia
A  prediction (Latin præ-, "before," and dicere, "to say") or forecast is a  statement about the way things will happen in the future, often but not  always based on experience or knowledge. While there is much overlap  between prediction and forecast, a prediction may be a statement that  some outcome is expected, while a forecast is more specific, and may  cover a range of possible outcomes.
Although guaranteed  information about the future is in many cases impossible, prediction is  necessary to allow plans to be made about possible developments; Howard  H. Stevenson writes that prediction in business "... is at least two  things: Important and hard."
Prediction is closely related to  uncertainty. Reference class forecasting was developed to eliminate or  reduce uncertainty in prediction
Informal prediction from hypothesis
Outside the rigorous context of science, prediction is often confused with informed guess or opinion.
A  prediction of this kind might be inductively valid if the predictor is a  knowledgeable person in the field and is employing sound reasoning and  accurate data. Large corporations invest heavily in this kind of  activity to help focus attention on possible events, risks and business  opportunities, using futurists. Such work brings together all available  past and current data, as a basis to develop reasonable expectations  about the future.