Scientists scoff as climates run amok on big screen


		Twentieth Century Fox
	A tsunami floods New York City -- one of many weather-related catastrophes depicted in "The Day After Tomorow." - See more scenes from the movie.

And in Seattle, theater rows filled with prominent atmospheric scientists snicker at it all.

A cadre of about three dozen University of Washington climate and weather experts Wednesday night loaded up with jumbo bags of popcorn and settled in for a sneak peek of the summer blockbuster "The Day After Tomorrow" -- and to see Hollywood's interpretation of them and their science.

The verdict?

"Shameless scientific prostitution," blasted Gerard Roe, professor in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences.

The Statue of Liberty knee-deep in snow with taxi-sized icicles dangling off her nose? A bit of a stretch?

"It was a gross distortion of almost everything we know," Roe slammed.

And the team of tornadoes that leveled half of Los Angeles? A tad over the top?

"The whole thing is absurd," declared David Battisti, director of the Earth Initiative, a UW-wide program looking at the effect of humans on the planet.

But still, the scientists couldn't resist the chance to see the flick.

After all, the last time they rallied together for a trip to the movies was eight years ago, when they were swept into "Twister" to check out its merry band of tornado chasers.

"There aren't that many movies where the scientists are the lead characters," said Mike Wallace, a UW professor of atmospheric sciences. During Wednesday's screening, the scientists tittered when one of their cinematic stand-ins hopped out of a cheery yellow hybrid car. They chuckled at dire predictions of a frozen future in a matter of days.

"This is beyond my wildest dreams," Wallace exclaimed as impossible atmospheric events unfolded on the screen of the Neptune Theatre.

And some even applauded when the scientist-actors admonished the White House for failing to heed their warnings against rampant fossil-fuel burning.

The UW scientists agreed that climate change is real -- the world is getting warmer and man's consumption of fossil fuels most likely is driving it. Most researchers believe that when oil, coal and wood is burned it releases "greenhouse gases," including carbon dioxide that trap heat and warm the Earth. The gases can remain in the atmosphere for decades, meaning that fuel burned today can have long-lasting effects.

But the disaster that rocks the world at hyperspeed in "The Day After Tomorrow" isn't how the researchers see the change playing out.

First, there's no evidence to suggest that such cataclysmic changes could happen in the course of a week. At best, dramatic changes -- rapid melting of the ice caps or the freezing of vast stretches of continents -- are more likely to occur over centuries or at least decades. And if there was a quick switch, odds are it would be a warming, not cooling, they said.

So as rows of audience members gripped their seats while massive storms spun across the planet, the scientists chuckled.

For such a storm to happen, it would have to defy physical constraints created by the rate of the Earth's rotation, laws dictating how gases expand and contract, and atmospheric conditions that determine where weather happens.

And the frigid funnels that siphoned frozen temps from the troposphere all the way down the Empire State Building? The movie makers ran that reaction backwards.

"It would be the hottest temperature ever recorded on the planet," Battisti said.

For all the laughs and scientific slander, the UW researchers hope the film will spark interest in global warming and get people talking about what could be done to lessen the damage.

"The fact there will be a debate is a good thing," Roe said.

"Global warming is pretty serious," Battisti said. "It would be a mistake to treat it lightly."

P-I reporter Lisa Stiffler can be reached at 206-448-8042 or lisastiffler@seattlepi.com

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