Joel portrays widespread devastation: fire consuming pastures and flames burning trees, with watercourses dried up. The imagery emphasizes how total the drought-like ruin is. See Joel 1:19–20.
In Joel 1:19–20 the speaker turns directly to Yahweh with a final, urgent cry because the land is being stripped bare. Fire and flame are pictured as consuming the grazing places and the trees, while drought empties the streambeds. Even the wild animals are described as desperate, “panting” toward God for water. These verses close the opening lament over a catastrophic ecological collapse in Joel 1. Earlier, the chapter describes widespread devastation affecting farmers, drinkers, priests, and the temple’s offerings; the community is urged to mourn and call out to God (see Joel 1:13–18).
These two verses close Joel 1 with a direct address to Yahweh: the speaker openly cries to God because the land is being stripped of what sustains life. The stated causes are “fire” and drought: grazing areas are consumed, trees are burned, and streams have dried up.
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with Joel 1:19-20, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
19Yahweh, I cry to you, For the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, And the flame has burned all the trees of the field.
20Yes, the animals of the field pant to you, For the water brooks have dried up, And the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.