A leading climatologist commented on this film during last night's news. The process, he said, could potentially take as little as two years, in extreme circumstances. Remember, we're dealing with human interference here - something that wasn't a factor in previous ice ages.[q=Immortal]Are we talking about the polar caps melting or an ice age? I'm confused.[/q]The idea in this film is that the melting of the ice caps disrupts the gulf stream, the warm ocean current which is the only thing keeping you northern folks from freezing over. A rise in temperatures melts the ice caps; the gulf stream peters out; everyone gets frozen.[q]Polar caps melting is no big deal. Some cities might get wet, but I don't think it's that bad. The ocean is huge, and I don't think there's so much ice that it would raise the sea level more than a few meters. If it's actually that life threatening, I would be geniunely surprised.[/q]Even a few meters would greatly increase the threat from tidal wives and spring tides, even in relatively high areas. And there are plenty of Pacific islands that will literally be underwater. Some already are - Tuvalu, I think, is actually about a meter below sea level; it's just got a high rim keeping everyone dry. But hundreds of islands are going to be uninhabitable within a few years, or decades, at the current rate. There is one heck of a lot of ice in the North Pole (just look at any globe); that'd make a significant difference to sea levels, as well as all the other climate disruptions.

I haven't actually seen the movie, probably won't...