The film is based on the 1999 book The Coming Global Superstorm and highlights the catastrophic effects of a disrupted North Atlantic Ocean circulation.
Critics and scientists have often debated the film's "spectacularly ridiculous" special effects versus its scientific inaccuracies. The film "The Day After Tomorrow"
: Global warming causes the polar ice caps to melt, which leads to a cooling of ocean temperatures and a complete shutdown of the Gulf Stream.