FILM THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW The Day After Tomorrow (2004), directed by Roland Emmerich, stars Dennis Quaid (as Jack Hall), Ian Holm (as Professor Terry Rapson), Jake Gyllenhaal (as Jack s son Sam) and Emmy Rossum (as Sam s friend Laura). A SYNOPSYS Jack Hall is a paleo-climatologist (a scientist who studies the planet s weather patterns throughout the ages) who is on an expedition at a research station in Antarctica with two colleagues. They are drilling for ice core samples when an enormous ice block breaks off from the rest of the continent. Jack presents his findings on global warming at a UN conference in New Delhi. At the conference, Professor Rapson, who is keeping track of the world s ocean currents, tells Jack that the melting of the polar ice caps has poured fresh water into the oceans and diluted the salt level, which has caused the temperature of the ocean currents to drop, thus disrupting the North Atlantic current. A series of weather-related disasters starts to occur all over the world violent hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, tidal waves and massive floods. Jack sees the President and gives him the bad news that his estimate of years is now down to days, before the planet enters a new Ice Age. While survivors in the Northern United States try to evacuate to the warmer climates of the south, Jack heads north to try to rescue his son Sam and his friends who are stuck in New York, but the cold is a powerful adversary. In keeping with the movie s ecological theme, Emmerich paid $200,000 from his own pocket to make the production carbon-neutral the first of its kind in Hollywood. All carbon dioxide emitted by the production was offset by the planting of trees and investments in renewable energy. The consultation by NASA scientists was requested before the filming of the movie, but NASA stated that the events in the film were too ridiculous to actually occur and hence denied the request. NASA sent a memo out to all of its employees stating that they were not allowed to comment on the likelihood of the events portrayed, but later revoked this restriction. The Red Cross put up several stands at cinemas in the U.S. featuring pamphlets with information on what to do to keep safe during tornados, floods and blizzards for concerned people who had just viewed the film. 212 Module 5 COMPOUNDS BEFORE WATCHING 1. Do you know where Antarctica is? If not, surf the net to find some information about it. 2. Have you ever seen films/documentaries set in Antarctica research stations? 3. Where is New Delhi? 4. What is UN? 5. Who is usually present at UN conferences? 6. What is meant by global warming ? 7. What can governments do to help prevent global warming? 8. Do you know what the importance of the North Atlantic current is? If not, surf the net to find information about it. 9. Do you know when the most recent glacial periods took place? If not, surf the net to find some information about it. pagina lunga vedi BIS