Who cares about science when it's Hollywood

Rating: 10/10 (9 February 2020)

From the beginning of the movie, it's evident that the intention of the movie is purely entertainment rather than realism (Dennis Quaid could never make that jump). However, there is a strong focus on global warming and the causes of change, which weren't exactly in the spotlight when the film released. It displayed well the ignorance that some people show when the topic is brought up. For a blockbuster disaster film, the first half wasn't too egregiously unscientific, but that changed as the film carried on. The typical survivor story, where the characters are put into any possible dangerous situation, was integrated to ensure that people would actually watch. The Earth fell into an ice age due to "the burning of fossil fuels" and other contributors to global warming within a very short matter of time. Obviously, drastic changes aren't going to occur within a couple of days as they did in the movie, but the film did a good job in bringing attention to the issue of climate change and the fact that we need to make changes now before future generations pay the price.
The explanation that Quaid offered the gathering at the beginning of the movie placed the blame on a concentration of greenhouse gases that pushed the climate into an Ice Age state. He also claimed that the North Atlantic current would shut down, effectively cooling most of the Northern Hemisphere. This film is correct in that the North Atlantic current is responsible for the climate of Western Europe. However, the current would not just "shut down" due to an increased concentration of greenhouse gases and a coinciding desalinization. There were also a few nods to ice coring and climate data, which put a nice scientific spin on the film. However, past that point, the remainder of the movie was mostly drama. If the world were to fall into another ice age, there would at least be a time to prepare, unlike in the film. With even just a few weeks or months, the event would not be as devastating as it was in the movie. The population would not have to face the extreme natural hazards, such as the massive tornados and typhoons, if the temperature is rapidly decreasing. However, proper mitigation and avoidance of risk would decrease devastation. There are many ways to avoid the Earth's population being wiped out from an ice age, but a few of them would include warning communities of the upcoming events, giving them proper safety and sustainability training, and adapting areas to the inevitable freezing conditions. Since everyone panicked in response to the extreme weather events, the fatalities were compounded, and loss was maximized. The film helped to display the importance of being prepared and trying to stay ahead of climate trends.