[extropy-chat] FWD [fort] TDAT - The Day After Tomorrow

[Terry W. Colvin]

[Forwarded with permission from J.H. -twc]


This is a nice review Loren.

What moved me about the film was the human will to survive (as displayed at 
the end of the film). Some humans will ride out the next ice age and evolve 
into the next eon. Most will not as our existence here on Terra is tentative 
at best. What was chilling (pun intended) about this movie was the potential 
for dramatic climate shift caused by the sluggishness of the Conveyor Belt 
which in turn will cause storms to increase in their ferocity and develop in 
areas that were previously untouched by specific meteorological phenomena.  
Coming out of the coldest January that I can recall, with draught reigning 
over areas for several years, a hurricane hitting the southeast coast of 
South America and with 200 tornadoes having touched down this weekend alone, 
our climate is changing before our very eyes. This will impact food supply 
the world over. Global grain stocks are at an alarmingly low level. We have 
reached "peak oil" (demand outstrips supply). Fish stocks are being 
depleted. An outbreak of hoof-and-mouth, bird flu or mad cow disease could 
decimate the beef, dairy and poultry industries. There is basically a 
three-day supply of food in the American marketplace food chain at any given 
time. Any disruption, and you will have a lot of people scrambling for food. 
If the Dust Bowl of the 1930's comes back (and most likely it will at some 
point) or if we incur a multiple nuclear strike to the heartland, then 
America's Sun Belt and bread basket will be unable to grow the grain that 
nourishes and sustains the world. As we can see today, wars are being fought 
over energy. Tomorrow they will be fought over food and water. This will 
happen in your lifetime people.

As terrorism moves closer and closer to your home and re-shapes your 
lifelstyle (for instance the attacks on refineries in Saudi Arabia are going 
to take an extra 20 cents per gallon from your wallet this week alone), and 
gas rationing eventually becomes a reality, the 21st century human will have 
to re-invent itself in order to survive. We must find alternative energy 
sources. Where the U.S. was a world leader in the development and 
exploration of solar technology and wind farming in the 1980's and 90's, 
they've lost the high ground to the Japanese, Dutch and Scandanavians.  
"Rolling blackouts" loom this and each successive summer. One day 
electricity may only be available to certain areas at certain times at a 
prohibitive cost.

A terrorist action and subsequent declaration of Homeland Security Level 
Code "Red" means martial law. You are restricted to your home and dependent 
upon whatever supplies are at your disposal. That's if you are lucky, of 
course. A forced evacuation would create massive "car cities" on the 
evacuation routes and highways as cars run out of gas and accidents occur. 
The area where your car sputters to a halt becomes your new address. Each 
individual car driver would do anything it takes (assault, theft) to "get 
out" as they will deem their own personal survival to be more important than 
the rights of any other individual caught in the same peril. Black markets 
and bandits would pervade along the auto trail. Major roads would become 
clogged with chasis for months or even years. People would wait for the 
phantom supply helicopters as if they were the Second Coming itself. That's 
what will happen when we attempt to move to a "centralized meeting place" in 
time of disaster or evacuation.


In closing, the reason that I've tapped out this blather is that "the Day 
After Tomorrow" poses some real questions that should cause one to come to 
an awakening that one day our "one-click" lifestyle may be altered abruptly 
due to environmental, political or economical conditions and the tree that 
we've suckled may some day not bear its perpetual fruit.  Unless we find an 
alternative method to survive (i.e shelter, warmth and nourishment), then on 
the football pitch of life, we have passed the 90-minute mark and are 
playing with mere injury time.

Alright Then;

JH


-- 
"Only a zit on the wart on the heinie of progress." Copyright 1992, Frank Rice


Terry W. Colvin, Sierra Vista, Arizona (USA) < fortean1 at mindspring.com >
     Alternate: < fortean1 at msn.com >
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