Green 1

Tyler Green

Mr. Nielsen

GEOG 1700

April 26, 2018

Oceans Rising

For the Disasters in the Movies project, I chose to watch and write about the movie,

Oceans Rising. This movie was released in 2017 and shows what could possibly happen if the

polar caps were to melt completely and what would happen to the land on Earth if that much

water was to be suddenly poured into the oceans.

For years, scientists have proven that we are experiencing global warming and that the

ice and snow at the polar caps has been receding. (Strickland, Grabianowski, 2018) The Earth’s

main ice-covered landmass is Antarctica at the South Pole, with about 90 percent of the world’s

ice (and 70 percent of its fresh water). Antarctica is covered with ice an average of 2,133 meters

(7,000 feet thick. If all of the Antarctic ice melted, sea levels around the world would rise about

61 meters (200 feet.) This film, Oceans Rising tried to depict what the world would look like if

that in fact happened.

 Green 2

This is a map of what scientists believe the east coast of the United States would look like if we

had 200 feet of sea swell. As you can see, many millions of lives would be lost. Entire cities

would be destroyed and buried under water not to mention the entire state of Florida. The

science has made clear for a long time that we don’t need to burn anywhere close to all of the

world’s fossil fuels to have beyond-catastrophic sea level rise. As recently as March of 2012, the

National Science Foundation shared a news release on paleoclimate research that warns,

“Global Sea Level Likely to Rise as much as 70 feet in Future Generations.” The lead author

pointed out, “The natural state of the Earth with present carbon dioxide levels is one with sea

levels about 70 feet higher than now,” It also concluded that when CO2 levels were this high 15

million years ago, it was 5 degrees to 10 degrees F warmer and seas were 75 to 120 feet higher.

(Romm, 2015).

Global warming is what most scientists are now attributing the ocean rising and other

natural disasters to. For example, the warming ocean could fuel more frequent and more

intense Atlantic hurricanes. We have witnessed the power and damage of Hurricane Katrina.
 Green 3

80 percent of New Orleans was covered with water. 1,836 people died and hundreds of

thousands became homeless. “Hurricanes are the poster child of global warming,” says

Christopher Landsea, a meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration’s National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Another side effect of global warming is that when temperatures increase, it causes

more frequent and deadlier eat waves. In 2016, scientists warned that humidity may make

future heat waves deadlier and also noted that cold snaps were on the decline. Just this past

summer, 2017, sweltering heat waves scorched India and Pakistan. The extreme temperatures

killed thousands of people and were two of the deadliest heat waves since 1900. Such lethal

heat will become more common as the planet continues warming. (Sumner, 2016)

In the movie, Oceans Rising, they also touch upon how desperate people would be to

have food and water. Today, we know that climate change has exacerbated droughts that

contributed to regional conflicts, such as the war in Darfur and that in 2016, drought conditions

worsened by climate change which then in turn sparked the Syrian civil war. Mounting evidence

from around the world has indicted climate change in several recent severe droughts from Syria
 Green 4

to California. Computer simulations and direct measurements of weather patterns show that

climate change can redirect the paths of rainstorms and cause higher temperatures that dry out

soil.

Scientists have shown us a lot of evidence that proves that such scenarios like the ones

in Oceans Rising are possible and can occur. The disaster in this film was used to help move the

film along. First, when the flood first strikes, the boat with the main characters picks up a few

people who have been stranded at sea which helps the plot move forward. Next, the survivors

have to try and make a plan that can not only save them but the rest of the world.

I thought that the premise of oceans rising at such a quick rate could actually happen

but the way that it was depicted in the movie could have been done better. Most of the acting

seemed forced and the graphics left a lot to be desired. I also thought that the ending of this

movie seemed really far-fetched. I don’t know that if the oceans were truly rising at such a

terrific rate, that any human effort would be able to restore the balance back to the Earth.
 Green 5

Works Cited

Strickland, J. Grabianowski, E. (2018). How global warming works. How stuff works.

Romm, J. (2015). We’re aiming at 200 feet or more of sea level rise: here’s what that looks like.

Think progress.

Sumner, T. (2016). Changing climate: 10 years after an inconvenient truth. Science News.