What does The Day After Tomorrow teach us?
The movie The Day After Tomorrow is loosely based on the theory of “abrupt climate change.” The plot of the movie is that, as a result of global warming, ocean currents that circulate water around the world shut down, heating up the tropics and cooling the North Atlantic.
In the movie "The Day After Tomorrow," the Earth is thrown into an ice age after ocean currents in the Atlantic Ocean grind to a halt. That ocean current system, called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), is responsible for western Europe's warm temperatures.
Originally slated for release in the summer of 2003, The Day After Tomorrow premiered in Mexico City on May 17, 2004, and was released in the United States on May 28, 2004. A major commercial success, the film became the sixth highest-grossing film of 2004.
As the Southern Ocean gets saltier and the North Atlantic gets fresher, large-scale ocean circulation patterns begin to dramatically change, pulling CO2 out of the atmosphere and reducing the so-called greenhouse effect. This in turn pushes the Earth into ice age conditions.
If the currents were to stop completely, the average temperature of Europe would cool 5 to 10 degrees Celsius. There would also be impacts on fisheries and hurricanes in the region. The currents in the North Atlantic are part of a global pattern called thermohaline circulation, or the global ocean conveyor.
Ice cores are cylinders of ice drilled through the thick sheets of Greenland and Antarctica. So it is very likely that Earth will turn cold again, possibly within the next several thousand years.
Record Value | -89.2°C (-128.6°F) |
---|---|
Date of Record | 21 / 7 [July] / 1983 |
Formal WMO Review | Yes (2011) |
Length of Record | 1912-present |
Instrumentation | Maximum/Minimum Thermometer in Standard Stevenson Screen |
We found the collapse of this system – called the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation – would shift the Earth's climate to a more La Niña-like state. This would mean more flooding rains over eastern Australia and worse droughts and bushfire seasons over southwest United States.
In the film, as the polar ice-caps melt due to man caused global warming, it causes the ocean water levels to rise. That along with storms caused by the disruptions in the ocean currents, creates a tsunami that hits New York City and floods the city.
Movies teach us all sorts of things: how to aspire, who to fantasize about (all those princes will come), how to smoke, dress, walk into a room (always like Bette Davis). They teach us who to love and how, as well as the ostensible necessity of sacrificing love along with careers.
Which natural disaster is covered in The Day After Tomorrow?
This happens in a matter of days. A super-storm is triggered by the oceanic shutdown. This covers much of the northern hemisphere in a few giant cyclones. It causes the flooding of Manhattan, huge hailstones in Tokyo, tornados in LA, and several days of severe snow storm covering the entire northern continents.
Answer: Jack Hall originally makes the claim that shifts in the weather pattern would occur in one-hundred years. Even though Hall's prediction of a modern day Ice Age was real, the time phrase that he predicted was false. His ability to predict the event but not the period shows the limitations of science and humans.

Dust from the asteroid caused a disruption in the amount of sunlight Earth received, which led to an ice age. This actually set the stage for the conditions we see on Earth now – arctic conditions at the North and South poles and more tropical conditions around the equator.
Yes, people just like us lived through the ice age. Since our species, Homo sapiens, emerged about 300,000 years ago in Africa, we have spread around the world. During the ice age, some populations remained in Africa and did not experience the full effects of the cold.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse gas. This means that it causes an effect like the glass in a greenhouse, trapping heat and warming up the inside. This effect is important: without the CO2 that naturally exists in the atmosphere, Earth might be too cold to support human life.
Because the deep water brought to the surface is often rich in nutrients, coastal upwelling supports the growth of seaweed and plankton. These, in turn, provide food for fish, marine mammals, and birds. Upwelling generates some of the world's most fertile ecosystems.
The ocean circulation conveyor belt helps balance climate. As part of the ocean conveyor belt, warm water from the tropical Atlantic moves poleward near the surface where it gives up some of its heat to the atmosphere. This process partially moderates the cold temperatures at higher latitudes.
Thermohaline circulation plays an important role in supplying heat to the polar regions. Therefore, it influences the rate of sea ice formation near the poles, which in turn affects other aspects of the climate system (such as the albedo, and thus solar heating, at high latitudes).
Scientists have predicted that Earth is 15 years away from a "mini ice age," The Telegraph reports. Using a new model of the sun's activity, the solar researchers estimate that in the 2030s the movements of two waves of fluids within the star will lead to a 60% reduction in solar activity.
There is still some uncertainty about the full volume of glaciers and ice caps on Earth, but if all of them were to melt, global sea level would rise approximately 70 meters (approximately 230 feet), flooding every coastal city on the planet.
How long will humans last?
Humanity has a 95% probability of being extinct in 7,800,000 years, according to J. Richard Gott's formulation of the controversial Doomsday argument, which argues that we have probably already lived through half the duration of human history.
To me, "after tomorrow" would mean an indefinite time, not just the day after. For example "after tomorrow, I'm on vacation for a week". But I agree with you, saying just "after tomorrow" wouldn't mean the day after, but an extended time starting with that day.
This happens in a matter of days. A super-storm is triggered by the oceanic shutdown. This covers much of the northern hemisphere in a few giant cyclones. It causes the flooding of Manhattan, huge hailstones in Tokyo, tornados in LA, and several days of severe snow storm covering the entire northern continents.
Answer: Jack Hall originally makes the claim that shifts in the weather pattern would occur in one-hundred years. Even though Hall's prediction of a modern day Ice Age was real, the time phrase that he predicted was false. His ability to predict the event but not the period shows the limitations of science and humans.
The wave depicted in the movie is more like a tsunami, a large wave that results from an earthquake or submarine landslide. Storm surges along the coast are caused by a combination of the low pressure of a storm literally lifting up the surface of the ocean, and onshore winds pushing water against the land.
Overmorrow: on the day after tomorrow.
Example: "I'll have that report to you overmorrow." Why: Overmorrow was in Middle English but fell out of the language. So instead of having this word, we have the wordy "day after tomorrow." German still has this very useful word: übermorgen.
Triweekly is commonly used to mean one of two things: once every three weeks or three times per week. It can be used this way as an adjective, as in a triweekly meeting, or an adverb, as in We plan to meet triweekly.
The movie concludes with the astronauts looking down at Earth from the Space Station, showing most of the northern hemisphere covered in ice and snow, with one of the astronauts stating "Look at that.... Have you ever seen the air so clear?"
We are shown what could only be considered a ~240 foot tsunami cresting the Statue of Liberty. A tsunami is generated from something like an earthquake or a volcanic eruption, both of which can displace large quantities of water or land (by moving land you move the water on top of it).
What significant contribution can individuals make in response to climate change?
Reduce your energy use, and bills
Put on an extra layer and turn down the heating a degree or two. Turn off lights and appliances when you don't need them. Replace light bulbs with LEDs or other low-energy lights. Make simple changes to how you use hot water, like buying a water-efficient shower head.
married. His wife, Dr. Lucy Hall, lives and works in Manhattan. He and Lucy have a teen-aged son named Sam, who's a pretty smart kid.
14 What was Jack's main method of transportation when going to New York City to rescue Sam? Jack started out driving, but the weather got so bad that he couldn't see, and ended up driving into a ditch. He walked the rest of the way along with two of his friends who also went along.
The Day After Tomorrow
The ice shelf suddenly breaks off from the rest of the continent, and Jack almost falls to his death. Jack presents his findings on global warming at a United Nations conference in New Delhi. Jack found that 10,000 years ago, a global warming changed the earth's climate into the Ice Age.
Overmorrow: on the day after tomorrow.