I just finished watching the movie "Day After Tommorrow". I was wondering if people believed this would happen in the near future. I believe that some aspects may occur and some may not. For instance, the water rising and becoming frozen over (like in the movie). What are your views on the ice age occuring and will it be like the way Hollywood portrays it or not?
2006-12-26 21:13:33 · 10 answers · asked by Gabby H 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
If you look at the history books, as recently as 1800 we have had an ice age. That's not very long ago. It lasted a very short time only a few years. 1800 has been called the year without a summer. In the northeastern united states it was snowing in July of 1800. A volcano had erupted and the massive amount of ash in the atmosphere caused a rapid cooling effect and it got very very cold very very fast. The science in the movie day after tomorrow is somewhat flawed but in the movie the cause was the stalling of the Atlantic conveyor current. if you look at the most recent reports of that current, it has slowed down over the past few years. Slowed down a great deal. Truth is, no one really knows exactly what will happen. Several years ago the military began looking for ways to adapt to changing climate and began looking into temporary dwellings (tents) that could withstand >300mph winds. That would be like the jet stream touching down. The government knows it is going to get bad. They just do not wish to panic anyone.
2006-12-26 21:22:44 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The film gets... an awful lot of facts wrong - the events wouldn't happen anything like as fast, won't happen all at the same time, and you won't get people being flash frozen in the street.
But... we are actually in an ice age at the moment. We are in an interglacial, which is not a period of time between ice ages, it is a short, exceptionally warm period during an ice age. An ice age is defined as any time where there is ice at the poles.
So, ignoring the effects of global warming, the ice sheets are poised to hurtle out from the poles at any moment... rapid in geological terms, that is. It could be any time within the next 10-50 thousand years.
But, global warming is probably helping to stave off the next ice age... its just a pity it has so many negative consquences...
2006-12-26 21:40:25 · answer #2 · answered by robcraine 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, for starters, "Day After Tomorrow" is a fictional movie. The world is getting warmer and the ice caps are melting. But the world going through a ice age as a result of "global warming" is not likely. If you put a block of ice in a pan, put it on the stove, turned up the heat and watched it melt. it would not cause the pan to freeze over as a result. To cause the zub 0 down drafts that we saw in that movie, that would require those temperatures to exist in our atmosphere.
The world went through an ice age, yes. The world is recovering from it still, yes. Will another ice age occure, unlikely. The chances of another ice age occuring is slimm to none. No evidence has been gathered indicating that the Earth will go through another, only that there was one about 4.5 thousand years ago.
2006-12-26 21:39:43 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It will occur pretty soon(probably 10,000-100,000 years from now). Right now we're in a dry period which is actually which is actually rarer than ice ages. When I watched the movie you mentioned I didn't pay much attention but I doubt the next ice age will be like how they portray it in Hollywood. It's just gonna be like ice ages before maybe a little cooler mybe a little warmer.
2006-12-26 21:19:38 · answer #4 · answered by addict for dramatic 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a matter of when, not if! The earth has always had periods of warmth(interglacials) and much colder periods(glacials)
Global warming is slowing down this shift from interglacial to glacial but all of the fresh water at the poles are melting in to the sea, this will eventually and quite possibly very suddenly switch of the north atlantic jet stream which is responsible for our warm weather!
so it could possibly happen faster than anyone thinks!
2006-12-26 21:53:21 · answer #5 · answered by azman5998 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm religious and I think that Jesus will come at the end of the world to judge the people, but I am not sure if I believe that it will be an ice age. I do think that all of the world will be in a destructive state, but I don't know.
2006-12-26 21:16:23 · answer #6 · answered by TheSilverBeetles 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No...but if there will be another one....we will die just like the dinasours and then we wont see the ice age anyways
2006-12-26 21:15:51 · answer #7 · answered by Wheaties 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
happen, yes; near future, no. and definately not like (or even close) in the movie in the area of how quickly it happened..
2006-12-26 21:15:56 · answer #8 · answered by Dashes 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
if the ice age comes i probably wouldnt be here, it would probably take alot of years before that can happen
2006-12-27 00:42:17 · answer #9 · answered by daniel.gzmn 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The earth will absolutely have another one - it's a question of when.
2006-12-26 21:21:25 · answer #10 · answered by ericscribener 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋