Free «Contextual Analysis: The Day after Tomorrow and Six Degrees Could Change the World» Essay Sample

1. Introduction

Nowadays, movies and documentaries about global cataclysms are very popular because of frequent discussions taking place among scientists and ecological organizations. The society is aware of ecological problems and their consequences. The Day after Tomorrow movie describes how hard it is to survive in a new climate era, especially in the USA. Six Degrees Could Change the World documentary is about global changes of climate and what may happen if humans do not attempt to save the planet before it is too late. However, there is a question which of these films makes a more persuasive argument about climate change.

2. Ethos

Art movies like The Day after Tomorrow do not always have quality scientific verifications because of their entertaining nature. In this film, there are many characters, government officials, scientists, and, of course, simple citizens trying to save themselves from the horrors of the ice age. Scenes described in the movie are terrifying, but amazingly beautiful. The main character of this movie is an ecology scientist who has predicted beginning of the cataclysm era. His calculations prove that the planet is on the verge of the ice age, but it may happen in this century or even after at the end of millennium.

As in The Day after Tomorrow, speaker of Six Degrees Could Change the World emphasizes that the ecological disaster is coming and the humanity does a good work to help it come faster. Description of consequences begins with a change of global temperature by one degree and so on to six degrees. The speaker uses a calm and confident tone, which often ends with a pause so that viewers could make their own conclusions about the situation. fect every country and every citizen.

3. Pathos

In The Day after Tomorrow, there is a story of global cataclysm experienced bv common citizens like Sam Hall. He is trapped in New York City with his classmates just before the catastrophe starts. He is smart, erudite, and helpful. Viewers often see his will to save people and to convince them to stay in a shelter because they will freeze outside.  This scene shows viewers that to in order to survive, one has to be aware of climate changes and listen to professionals.

In comparison, Six Degrees Could Change the World uses the same scenes. After every storyline, viewers repeatedly see visualizations of flooded cities, productive green plains becoming deserts, melting glaciers, and forests on fire. Watching these scenes over and over really inspires to do something to save the planet. People suffering all around the world make one feel uncomfortable and useless. Empathy starts to grow. Viewers know that the humanity is doomed to extinct if it stays the same resource consuming monster, which it is now.

4. Logos

As mentioned above, The Day after Tomorrow is an art film and only a few “Logos” terms may be considered credible. Case studies and interviews are not included here, as well as reports. There is only a conference in New Delhi where the main character voices his statement. He states few historical reports of ice ages and other cataclysms. Also, there are many professionals working on the issue, diagnosing the climate and making conclusions. They have created a computer model to track changes in atmosphere and determine how ice storms will spread.

Concerning Six Degrees Could Change the World, for almost two hours viewers see qualified scientists, their interview, notes, statistics, and other reliable sources of information. They also see interviews with different people all around the world. They are farmers, fishers, highlanders, doctors, and common citizens. They describe problems that have happened in their lives in the past few decades: droughts, glacier melting, overheating, etc.

5. Conclusion

Saving stable climate on the Earth is the most valuable issue in modern ecology. For the last century, the humankind has destroyed the enormous quantity of forest areas, as well as massively polluting oceans and atmosphere. These two films describe what is threatening the world and the outcomes people may see in the future. The first one, The Day after Tomorrow, is a good movie with credible scientific base and special effects. However, the main problem of this movie is that the climate cataclysm will not occur in a month. It is too fast even for a small planet like Earth. It will happen in a few centuries or even more only if the humankind does not decrease pollution and energy consumption. In general, this movie is great, but it may not be considered as scientific, rather fantastic, which makes it non-credible. On the contrary, Six Degrees could Change the World documentary has credible sources and statistics. It tells viewers about consequences of climate change like the first movie. In this case, people see scientific documentations and visualizations, as well as facts of climate change.

Both movies are incredible and worth to be seen. If one wants entertainment, one should see the first film and if one seeks knowledge, it is better to watch the second one. Everyone has to know how to avoid the catastrophe and what to do personally to make it never happen.

6. Additional Information

6.1. Chinese policy of climate safety

As a Chinese, I know that my country’s pollution cannot be underestimated because it is one of the most massive industrial centers on the Earth. Smog from carbon dioxide and methane can always be seen in our cities. “… over last ten years and more its contribution of greenhouse gases and for the half of last decade it has contributed more to the problem than any other country” (Harris 223).

6.2. Confirmation of global cataclysm possibility

Some scientists claim that each year people get closer and closer to the global ecology disaster. For example, James Hansen, a well-known American professor at Columbia University, states:

In 2001 I was more sanguine about the climate situation. It seemed the climate impacts might be tolerable if the atmospheric carbon dioxide amount was kept at a level not exceeding 450 parts per million. So far, humans caused carbon dioxide to increase from 280 ppm in 1750 to 387 in 2009. This is already dangerous mark to cause global nature disaster. (12).

So, it is obvious that if the humankind does not decrease pollution, climate will change.