'You are kidding?' he sarcastically replied.

His views echoed each scientist who spoke to Salon for this article, criticizing the movie's central premise of a rapid ice age and observing that 'one does not get an ice age out of global warming.' Although Trenberth acknowledged that science fiction ' can be helpful in setting the stage for people relationships and politics,' he scoffed when Salon referred to 'The Day After Tomorrow' as a 'work of art.' Trenberth, distinguished scholar at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, told Salon by email.

'I don't recall a lot except that the whole science was incredibly wrong,' Dr. If that's so, then why do so many scientists view the film with contempt? Simply put: It's a movie about listening to science - but it also butchers most of it in the process.

This 25-year-old sci-fi disaster movie is still lauded by scientists - here's why As the film reaches its 19-year anniversary this week, it should in theory be celebrated as ahead of its time - particularly in scenes like the one with Rossum, who articulated views later expressed by Greta Thunberg and countless other future climate protesters. Yet in addition to being entertaining, 'The Day After Tomorrow' also attempted to make an important political point by raising awareness about how greenhouse gas emissions are destroying our planet. Like many Emmerich blockbusters (such as 'Godzilla' and '2012'), 'The Day After Tomorrow' includes spectacular scenes of mass destruction, with apocalyptic ice storms smothering landmarks in New York City and ultimately covering the entire northern hemisphere. It primarily tells the story of Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid), a paleoclimatologist who unsuccessfully tries to warn America's political leaders - most notably Vice President Raymond Becker (Kenneth Welsh), an obvious satire on real-life Vice President Dick Cheney - that climate change is about to rapidly cause a new ice age. It was the first Hollywood blockbuster to use its premise to focus on climate change and make bank while doing so.Ī semi-adaptation of the 1999 book 'The Coming Global Superstorm' by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber on a budget of $125 million (or nearly 200 million in today's dollars), 'The Day After Tomorrow' grossed a whopping $552 million (in 2023, that's more than $883 million). 'We passed out fliers at screenings, and brought images of real-world climate disasters to ExxonMobil's annual shareholder meeting.'ĭespite largely being remembered as a special effects-fueled extravaganza, this quiet dramatic moment may best epitomize the complex legacy of 'The Day After Tomorrow,' directed and co-written (along with Jeffrey Nachmanoff) by Roland Emmerich of 'Independence Day' fame.

Rosewater sci fi