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The Day After Tomorrow : Good And Bad Science

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The Day After Tomorrow
Good and Bad Science as Presented in the Movie

Introduction and Background Information
Global Warming is a familiar topic that shows up frequently news headlines, is taught in science classes and explored in depth in science magazines.
Documented scientific evidence exists that earth is warming and that, in fact, it has warmed 1° Fahrenheit (0.56° Celsius) in the last decade, mostly due to an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide caused by the burning of fossil fuels. While one degree may not seem all that significant the fact is that such an increase has had an impact on global sea levels due to the melting of Arctic, Antarctic and Greenland Ice. The Antarctic Larsen Ice Sheet has collapsed. Ironically the collapse of the Larsen Ice Shelf actually occurred after it had been written into the movie. Greenland 's ice sheet is predicted to melt if global temperatures rise by 5.4° Fahrenheit (3° Celsius), resulting in a sea level rise of 23 feet (7 meters).
One species-related effect of global warming was exposed in a recent MSNBC news article dated Oct 23, 2006. It stated that "Dead Zones" have increased by one third in just two years, bringing the number from 149 to 200. Dead Zones are areas of the world 's oceans where blooms of tiny plants known as phytoplankton, along with the bacteria that consume them, have depleted the oxygen that fish rely upon for their very existence. Not only are fish species becoming less plentiful as food but they are also

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