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Updated: 2004-06-01 01:00

Climate flick favors fantasy over fact

科学家:灾难片《后天》杞人忧天

There was a time when talking about the weather was a safe topic of conversation.

Since global warming received its Hollywood makeover, such talk has stirred up controversy in scientific circles.

The much-hyped movie about climate change, "The Day after Tomorrow," which opens nationwide on May 28, depicts a series of catastrophes as the world plunges into a new ice age. In terms of accuracy, the movie is more science fiction than fact.

Scientists have given it a drubbing for its inaccuracies, but the movie has also garnered cautious endorsements for raising the profile of an important issue.

The premise -- rapid climate change -- is the subject of plenty of scientific studies, including a report commissioned by the Pentagon that deemed the event unlikely, "but plausible."

Yet the movie's depiction of the fallout from climate change stretches reputable science to apocalyptic proportions.

A few choice scenes from the movie include a presidential motorcade flash-frozen on the streets of New York, hail the size of grapefruit demolishing Tokyo, a mass migration of Americans into Mexico and a tidal wave that smashes New York City.

All of which is nonsense, scientists say.

"I think that someone watching "The Day after Tomorrow" should realize that when they come out of the movie they should know, that is not going to happen," said Dr. John Christy, professor of atmospheric science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Not that the producers dispute that -- at least, not yet.

"The movie is fiction," states Roland Emmerich, Mark Gordon and screenwriter Jeffrey Nachmanoff on the movie's website, but add, "We'd like to keep it that way."

The movie clearly runs on more adrenaline than accuracy. It is not above a bit of lobbying either. The website links to organizations that tackle global warming and offers ways to learn about the issue.

Some have seized on this sensationalism as evidence that the movie's portrayal of global warming -- and the threat of climate change -- is alarmist.

"This movie takes a grain of truth and turns into a mountain of apocalypse," says Patrick Michaels, a senior fellow in environmental studies with the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.

(Agencies)

曾几何时,天气是一个安全的谈论话题。

自从全球变暖经过好莱坞电影翻新再现,天气这个话题引起了科学界的争议。

这部大肆宣传的、有关气候骤变的影片《后天》于5月28日上映。影片描述了世界陷入新的冰河时代后发生的一系列灾难。从真实性来看,这部电影更像是科幻片,而非事实。

科学家们痛斥这部电影严重失实,但这部电影提出了一个重要问题的侧面,因而仍就获得了谨慎的认可。

气候骤变的假设是许多科学研究的主题,五角大楼也曾经委托制作相关报告,该报告认为天气骤变的可能性很小,“但也不是不可能”。

然而,影片所描述的气候变化的后遗症把著名的科学理论夸张成天大的灾难。

影片有几个经典场面,包括总统车队在纽约街头被迅速冻结,柚子大小的冰雹摧毁东京,美国人向墨西哥大规模迁移,以及潮汐波冲毁纽约城。

科学家说,所有这一切都是信口开河。

“我想观看《后天》的人应该意识到,当他们走出电影情节后,那些都不会发生。”阿拉巴马大学亨滋维尔分校的大气学教授约翰·克里斯特博士说。

制片人并未对此提出异议,至少目前没有。

罗兰·艾默里克、马克·戈登和编剧杰夫瑞·纳奇曼奥弗在电影网站上声明说:“这部电影是虚构的”,不过他们补充道,“我们想让它成为那样。”

显然,本片是以惊险刺激为卖点,而不是真实性。它也没有超出游说的意味。这个电影网站可以直接链接到解决全球变暖问题的组织,还提供了了解相关内容的方法。

有人抓住该片追求轰动效应作为证据,证明本片对全球变暖的描述,以及气候变化的威胁都是杞人忧天。

“这部影片抓住了一点点事实,就将其演变为巨大的灾难,”自由论者团体“加图协会”的高级环保研究员帕特里克·迈克尔说。

flick: 电影
makeover: 翻新,再现
stir up: 激起,引起
plunge: 陷入
drubbing: 痛斥
fallout: 附带结果
choice: 精选的
adrenaline: 惊险刺激

(中国日报网站译)

 
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