By Lubna Abdel-Aziz Every living thing eventually dies. In the mistiness of his early existence, man searched for answers, sense or meaning to the universe around him, but his quest for immortality remained beyond his reach. Only Death was a certainty and man's supreme resolve was to avoid, delay, or eliminate it. Religions provided him with the promise of a form of life after this one, and he held onto them tightly. This promise, this hope has kept the human race from despair. Whatever our belief, hopes, or dreams, life as we know it, is this one, our only home -- the planet Earth. The inescapable truth is that some day this home of ours, of plants, animals, and humans, of stars, suns and moons, will come to an end. But how? With a bang, as in a meteor or asteroid explosion, gamma burst, alien invasion or with a whimper when we shall slowly but surely vanish, self destruct and disappear by disease, indifference or mass insanity. The real miracle is that there is any life at all. Scientists have said that "if the basic rules of chemistry are any guide, life should not exist!" Yet through the passage of billions of years it did, forming its stars, galaxies and planets, and one planet in particular -- Earth, that produced our life. And now the science of doomsday promises the end is near: "Space is filled with objects that threaten Earth". Life was the product of an interglacial period, a time when the ice cycle takes a pause. Humanity was born between Ice Ages Greg Easterbrook wrote in Newsweek, November 1992: "Humanity which lived a frightened childhood in a harsh world of numbing frost, now found the earth a temperate and welcoming parent." The historical period of humankind was made possible in an "interglacial" period, when the ice cycle takes a pause. These warm interludes are relatively brief, and our current interglacial phase, according to geologists, is drawing to a close. "Earth has already started downhill towards another extended period of unforgiving cold!" How do they know that? The answer comes from the Sun. "The intensity of sunlight falling on the sub-Arctic in summertime has already peaked and will not rise again for millenniums." While all this may be beyond non-scientific minds, like mine or yours, suffice it to know that in approximately 2,000 years "a vast blanket of ice will again move south as it has previously and cover the entire Northern Hemisphere unless something else hits our Earth before then. Whether another cataclysmic climactic change or a deadly asteroid collision, or a volcanic eruption, or a meteoric explosion, our Earth is in the throes of massive extinction. Scientists, geologists, theologians and philosophers are busy working on possible doomsday theories. Filmmakers are busy creating scenarios enacting these theories. Natural disasters are great favourites among filmmakers. They are photogenic, spectacular and laden with drama, guaranteed to elicit oceans of tears and millions of harrowing nightmares. The big screen has explored them all, from Armageddon to Apocalypse Now, from Deep Impact to Independence Day, with countless others in between, fraught with calamitous floods, volcanoes, earthquakes, alien invasions and epidemics. Although the possibility of another Ice Age has haunted climatologists for decades, this is the first time, apart from a cartoon feature ( The Ice Age ), that global warming has been given such majestic screen treatment, with eye-popping special effects and terrifying plot turns. The Day After Tomorrow is Hollywood's latest wake-up call. In this global warming of an Arctic onslaught epic, audiences chill and thrill to scenes of Los Angeles levelled by tornadoes, Tokyo battered by grape-fruit size hail balls, Hawaii pounded by hurricanes, New Delhi engulfed by snowfall, and New York overturned by floods -- all in a span of a few short days. Global warming has taken over Earth and not much can be done about it, but survive at all costs. It is no surprise that the same director who gleefully demolished New York City by invading aliens in Independence Day (1996), now chooses to demolish it again by giant floods. Director Roland Emmerich, German "calamity enthusiast" visits once again with delight the èber metropolis, feasting with relish on more ways and means, of wiping out our major cities. For his efforts Emmerich is receiving more coverage on the editorial pages than in the entertainment sections, spurring discussions in all circles about the hazards of climate changes. The film's first jaw- dropping image is of a massive ice shelf breaking off the Arctic, resulting in giant storms and abrupt plummeting temperatures, menacing all life on the planet. Melting polar caps have poured too much fresh water into the oceans and disrupted the currents of our climate system, resulting in global warming that has pushed the planet over the edge. The Ice Age Cometh ! Again! It is all too true that Earth today is warming at a rate faster than in any time in the last 1,000 years. Since 1980 we have experienced 19 of the 20 warmest years on record, the hottest three since 1998. Temperatures are predicted to rise another 2.5� to 10.4�F by the end of the century. Furthermore the North Pole Arctic sea-ice has shrunk almost 40 per cent in recent decades, attributable in part to global warming. But many scientists dispute whether another Ice Age is possible. Most believe that it is the increased levels of greenhouse gases that will raise temperatures across the planet. While nobody knows what the exact result will be of mankind's addition of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, some experts have referred to it as the largest "uncontrolled scientific experiment in history". Before the next Ice Age there will be many more dangers poised to destroy us. For the most part the film operates within scientific boundaries, and while Independence Day was mostly sci-fi, The Day After Tomorrow is closer to science than fiction. Man's eternal struggle against Nature's devastating powerful force is a perennial theme that has everlasting appeal for both filmmakers and film viewers. Says Emmerich: "The story is the ultimate triumph of the human spirit." It departs most radically from real science only in the speed at which things happen. With a real concern for the state of our planet we read and observe and learn from such productions. Its environmental message is loud and clear. "If we don't care for our planet now it won't be around to take care of us anymore," says Dennis Quaid, starring as climatologist Jack Hall who tries to save his son Jake Gylenhaal stranded in a flooded Manhattan Public Library while his wife Sela Ward, a cancer doctor, chooses to stay behind with her cancer patient, a noble but unrealistic touch. "An ordinary family struggling to survive under extraordinary circumstances," says Emmerich. His latest endeavour has posted spectacular figures at the box office: "It is every disaster film ever seen rolled into one giant non-stop global meteorological cataclysm." More significantly it has inspired us to contemplate our own fate should an ecological disaster occur during our lifetime. Are we as powerless towards our mortality and our destruction as we have always been? Are we destined to accept, even embrace, the inevitable doom that is our destiny? The answer may be in the affirmative, but unless we can avoid or alter the consequences let us do the best we can with the life given to us for ourselves as well as for our home -- our planet, our Earth! Alas, regardless of their doom The Little Victims play. So let us play! Let us enjoy the pleasures this life affords us. Whether we eventually will be burned, smashed, boiled or drowned, or mercifully enveloped by a gaseous gentle sleep, the end is all too inevitable; the end is all too near. We shall, meanwhile, view the impending disasters on the screen. Why worry over what cannot be changed. Change it if you can, otherwise: Don't wait for the Last Judgment It takes place every day Albert Camus (1913-1960)
