The concept put forth in the movie is that the melting of the polar ice caps creates a serious change in the salinity of the water, one which shuts down the Gulf Stream which warms the climate in the northern hemisphere. There is an issue of getting time to work on a super-computer to work out the permutations of a climatic model. In the book, this is not a major issue; the protagonist gets the sympathetic ear of the American president right away, so computer time is forthcoming. But in The Day After Tomorrow, nobody in the administration wants to believe or listen to the paleo-climatologist warning of an impending ice age coming on the heels of huge storms that develop over the Earth’s northern hemisphere. The paleo-climatologist and his team of assistants have to work 24/7 to figure out the crisis they are facing once they finally do get time on a main-frame.
In the movie, the opening events are less dramatic than in the book reviewed above. The temperatures at monitoring buoys in the North Atlantic take dramatic plunges, one after another as the polar ice cap in the north slowly falls apart, making Jack Hall’s model of weather the only relevant one. But the action moves fast as storms having the nature of hurricanes of ice and cold develop over the land masses of Eurasia and North America and start to move south bringing massive flooding to the coastlines, and a killing cold to the population centers of Europe and North America. The mechanism for bringing this killing cold is much the same in the movie as in the book: the jet stream takes a vertical drop to the surface of the planet, bringing the freezing temperatures from the troposphere, temperatures that are as cold as -65C (-150F) to the surface of the planet. In the movie, the storms, like hurricanes, have an eye, and it is in this eye that the jet stream brings the temperatures of the troposphere to the planet’s surface. There is no wind at all, everything is iced over, nothing can move, and in anyplace that does not have a heat source, all living things freeze to death instantly.
In a phone call to Professor Rapson in northern England, Professor Hall explains that the three storm cells descending southwards from the North Pole will combine into one huge storm cell, and when the storm is over, and the air is rebalanced, the planet will be in the grip of a new ice age. He tells the English professor to get out of his station; the Englishman replies that the time is long past for him to evacuate his post. He suggests to the American, Professor Hall that he save those whom he can. Then the line goes dead.
Article comments
1 - MAOZ
Hag Same'aH, Ruvy!
I stumbled across something that might speak to you, in the Revava.org forum's discussion titled "Weak Dollar". A link is given there to an article.
I didn't have time just now to go through the entire article. But in skimming through it, it struck me that you might be interested in seeing it.
Kol tuv.
2 - duane
Ruvy, you hint around at your belief that there will be an apocalypse. What is the nature of such an apocalypse as you envision it? Something specific? Natural disaster? War? Disease? What does the aftermath look like? I know you don't know, exactly. I'm asking for your speculation.
Realizing with a certain humility that it is not us who cause the wind to blow and the rain to fall.
Nice turn of phrase. But a bit at odds with the belief that humans can cause or prevent a catastrophic climatic change.
3 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Thanks, MAOZ!!
A great read! Great reference!!
Have some sufganyot (jelly doughnuts) for me!
Hanukkah SameaH!
4 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Duane,
I'll get back to your question in a little while. This is the only computer with internet connection and I promised my wife some time at the computer for an internet version of "Brick Blaster." See you in a bit...
5 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Duane,
The original closing sentence in the essay was:
We would do well to realize that we have not been good stewards of the planet G-d entrusted us with, and seek to do better, hope for the best, and trim our sails to however the wind blows, realizing with a certain humility that it is G-d and not us Who causes the wind to blow and the rain to fall.
The editor, in editing the this piece ever so lightly, edited G-d out....
Be that as it may, the phrase "Who causes the wind to blow and the rain to fall" is lifted from the Standing Prayer, the 'Amidá that I recite and that is recited three times daily.
I'll be back with more later, Duane. You have hit at the fundament of my writing and I may write an entire article based on your question.
In the meantime, thanks for the kind words.
Later,
Reuven
6 - Mike Johnston
Christianity has been waiting for an apocalypse for something like 2000 years now without much in the way of results. Climate change is such a man made event that any apocalypse would be something that we would have to intentionally allow to happen because we have the means to stop it (just not the will).
Science fiction is great because it serves to translate dry, scientific data into a form that the general public can digest. But making it entertaining can often blur reality and fiction.
If we step up to the plate and learn to manage our planet responsibly there will probably never be a climate change apocalypse.
7 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Mike,
Jews had been praying to live in and control Jerusalem for 2,000 years without much of anything for results. Check my screen name again if you're having trouble getting the point.
By the way, we are still praying for the re-building of Jerusalem. Until OUR Temple stands on the Temple Mount and this entire land belongs to ALL of the People of Israel, that rebuilding will not be complete.
In the Tana"kh, the Hebrew Bible, it is written that when G-d blinks His Eye, 1,000 years pass. That verse is part of how our sages came up with a 15 billion year age for the universe.
When you deal with an Entity that is outside of time, you need patience - real patience.
I would counsel a bit more humility on your part. Two thousand years is but two blinks of G-d's Eye.
Re-read, please.
We would do well to realize that we have not been good stewards of the planet G-d entrusted us with, and seek to do better, hope for the best, and trim our sails to however the wind blows, realizing with a certain humility that it is G-d and not us Who causes the wind to blow and the rain to fall.
Shavua Tov - Have a good week.
8 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Duane,
Ruvy, you hint around at your belief that there will be an apocalypse. What is the nature of such an apocalypse as you envision it? Something specific? Natural disaster? War? Disease? What does the aftermath look like? I know you don't know, exactly. I'm asking for your speculation.
Apparently the answer to your question has been rattling around in my head for some weeks and is found at this article in comments #16 and #20.
First of all, though, a small correction in terms. The word "apocalypse" is a Christian term referring to a Christian idea, a final battle between Good and Evil to take place around Har Megiddo (Mt. Megiddo) in Israel. The Greek then messes up the Hebrew and gives you Armageddon, which is the Christian term for the location of this battle, as well as a generic term in English for an apocalyptic battle or confrontation, or in the case of this article, a sudden change in affairs (climate) that causes great upheaval...
The Hebrew term is geulá, meaning Redemption. As mentioned to Irene Wagner, the Redemption can be early, an event caused by massive repentance of Jews and others and a turning away from sin. In this event, the terrors that are prophesied in Biblical Books like Isaiah, Zechariah, Ezekiel, Joel or Jeremiah do not occur, and you go straight to a wonderful world on earth. Or, you get to do it the hard way: the terrors of the coming of the messiah do occur (mishléi hamashíaH in Hebrew) and you get that wonderful world only after lots of blood is shed, and many people die.
Either way, the messiah comes and rights the world, and either way, something like what is in those comments is what I speculate will occur.