is it possible???

Question

for the world to freeze, like in that movie the day after tomorrow???

Answer 1

Actually this discussion has gotten away from science. The freezing of the world that is proposed in the movie is the product of blocking the light from the sun as a result of dust arising from the blast effects of Atomic Weapons. This is commonly called Nuclear Winter.
We have seen the effects of large dust clouds on the world temperatures. Mt. St. Helens on May 18, 1980 erupted ejecting into the atmosphere a dust cloud that dwarfed any Nuclear exchange and it had very little but some effect on the weather. In 1991 Mt Pinatubo in the Philippines erupted some 500 times larger than Mt. St. Helens did. It had a noticed effect for about 3 years on the weather but was not a really critical effect. Pinatubo was only the 2nd largest eruption in the 20th century. In 1815 Tambora in Indonesia erupted some 2000 times larger than Mt. St. Helens and it nearly froze out a year. It was known as "The year without a summer."

It is important to get into a size prospective the size of this eruption that did cause a winter event. It was something like 2 billion times more powerful that all of the world's nuclear arsenals combined.

I think the real issue here is a basic human misunderstanding of Nuclear weapons. They are not as big as we would like to imagine them to be. One needs only go to Google Earth and look at the Nevada Test Site where nearly 1000 such bombs have been detonated. The site is hard to find unless you know where to look. It is about 100 miles to the north north west of Los Vegas, Nevada. Have fun looking.

During my lifetime several thousand such bombs have been detonated during tests around the world. There have been bad effects in some areas and some generally bad effects but honestly, these weapons are simply too small and too few to make the problem portrayed in the movie.

NOW the honest answer though is yes the world can freeze solid. We have some considerable evidence of this in the past but we don't really know how. It is involved in the electrical nature of the universe.

Answer 2

hah, i wish, it'd save me a pile on air conditioning...

but in all seriousness, no, the oceans would act as a moderator, water is very hard to freeze since it can absorb a lot of heat, and then does not lose that heat easily. That's why living by a large body of water such as a ocean prevents the huge temp swings from feezing to burning that you find in the desert.

But, i guess a major shift in climate could cause some freezing, but only if it lasts for many, many years.

Answer 3

Maybe in a 1,000,000 to 1 chance. The whole world would have to freeze which is very unlikely.

Answer 4

It's possible that the movie is foreshadowing future events. But it wouldn't happen in reality as it would within a 2 hour movie.

Answer 5

Not really. The day after tomorrow is Monday. It can't, otherwise I wouldn't take that test I have.

Answer 6

as the movie stated, 500,000 years ago it did. the earth is constantly changing, like the magnetic poles are doing now. it is possable. most scientist beleive that it wont happen for at least another 250,000 years.

Answer 7

Anything is possible, but the chances are highly improbable. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you.

Answer 8

maybe but very unlikely. Like 0.5% possible

Answer 9

no will never happen