DISASTERS REAL AND IMAGINED

Nord Stream gas leak--courtesy Danish Defence.

It’s getting harder every day for science fiction writers to stay ahead of events in the real world. Predicting the future is a tricky business when climate change, swift advances in technology, pandemics, constant war and societal upheaval have become a part of our daily lives.

Right now, for example, our friends in Florida are suffering through a devastating hurricane, the worst to hit the western coast of the state in over a hundred years, while our friends in the western part of the U.S. contend with an epic drought. Both disasters have been exacerbated by climate change, which in turn has been caused by human action over time.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, a different kind of environmental disaster is unfolding, almost certainly caused by direct human action on a much quicker time scale. Four leaks have been discovered in the Russian Nord Stream gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea that carries fuel to Europe. The leaks are spewing natural gas, releasing over half a million metric tons of methane into the ocean. Methane makes up the largest part of natural gas, and though the leaks will likely have minimal effect on local wildlife, the amount of methane released into the atmosphere is equivalent to the annual emissions of two million cars, according to Andrew Baxter, a methane expert at the Environmental Defense Fund.

Experts think the leaks are the result of sabotage of the pipeline, though they have no proof, and as yet can identify no culprit. Certainly Russia would have no motive; Putin and company have every incentive to keep the gas flowing to ensure income to support the war in Ukraine. It’s highly doubtful the Ukrainians would do it, either. They have neither the time nor the resources to mount such a mission. So far, then, it’s a mystery.

But to return to my original point, this story is eerily similar to the plot of a Norwegian science fiction/disaster film I saw a few weeks back on Hulu, titled THE BURNING SEA (2021). In this film, from the creative team behind THE QUAKE (2018) and THE WAVE (2015), and directed by John Andreas Andersen, drilling for oil in the North Sea opens fissures in the seabed, leading to disaster. Oil rigs explode! People are killed and trapped! Oil spreads over the sea, threatening coastlines from Scandinavia to Europe and Britain! The only solution is to set the oil on fire before it fouls the entire North Sea basin.

Since I love a good disaster film, no matter what its country of origin, I enjoyed THE BURNING SEA. The writing was decent, the effects were great, and the acting was more than competent. I thought the plot pretty far-fetched, of course, but now I’m wondering if it really was that far out. Yes, the current Nord Stream disaster is the result of deliberate sabotage, not an uncontrollable cracking of the seabed. And the leaks from the pipeline are of far more manageable natural gas, not oil. Still, you have to think, what if . . .?

On the other hand, we really do have more than enough to worry about. Ian is on the way north as we speak. So, excuse me while I go to batten down the hatches.

Cheers, Donna

*Information for today’s post provided by: “As fourth Nord Stream leak is discovered, here’s what scientists are saying about the environment impact,” by Anviksha Patel, Marketwatch, msn.com, September 29, 2022. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/as-fourth-nord-stream-leak-is-discovered-here-s-what-scientists-are-saying-about-the-environment-impact/ar-AA12niL1?ocid=BHEA000&cvid=08b7cc2bb5d34df7b088fc480efed81a

 

“Russian Gas Leak Could Be Environmental Disaster,” by Avi Salzman, Barron’s, September 27, 2022. https://www.marketwatch.com/articles/russia-gas-leak-environment-51664314465?mod=article_inline

 

 

 

BIG ONE A BIG HIT AS THE ROCK SAVES THE DAY

Lord knows there are enough real disasters in this world—earthquakes in Nepal, floods in Texas, droughts in California, wildfires in California, mudslides in California . . . I don’t linger over TV images of the suffering of real people in these rampages of Mother Nature. I feel for the victims of these incidents, I contribute to the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. 

But I just can’t help myself: I love me a good disaster movie! I’ve seen (and I own) ’em all, from THE TOWERING INFERNO to TITANIC, THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW  to 2012. Volcanoes! Earthquakes! Rogue waves! Tsunamis! Flash freezes! Superstorms! Tornadoes! Super-tornadoes! (I do hold the line at sharknados. Sorry, not buying that one.) It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine!

I will tolerate any kind of disaster movie, but a well-made, well-acted one is right up there with a day in the mountains and fluffy kittens on my list of favorite things. So you know I was in hog heaven sitting in the theater to see Dwayne Johnson (formerly “The Rock”) save the day as a “swarm” of earthquakes of over 9.0 on the Richter scale take out cities all along California’s San Andreas fault in SAN ANDREAS. Yes, it is finally the day of reckoning for the Golden State, the one we’ve all known is coming, the Big One! And we are all safe in our seats watching it happen.

As is the tried-and-true formula of disaster movies, we meet the cast of characters in the first half-hour of the film: Johnson’s Ray, a Los Angeles Fire Department rescue helicopter pilot (and veteran) with a big heart to go along with his big muscles; his college-age daughter, Blake (Alexandra Daddario, an up-and-comer), as resourceful and brave as he is; his soon-to-be ex-wife Emma (Carla Guggino, LOVE her!), smart and sweet; the requisite bad guy (Ioan Gruffudd), an architect whose building amazingly does NOT fall down right away!; the scientist who warns everyone of the coming disaster (Paul Giamatti, terrific as always); and other supporting players.

We get the warnings—a little landslide here, a tremor there. A quake where there is no fault line, which destroys the Hoover Dam. The scientist begins to see the scope of things. Then all hell breaks loose as the entire San Andreas fault, which runs from L.A. to San Franciso, begins to crack wide open. Whee!

The quality of special effects makes or breaks a movie like this, and the effects are first class in SAN ANDREAS. The entire L.A. basin ripples and waves like a sheet in the wind. Buildings topple into each other and disintegrate into rubble. A tsunami carries a massive container ship into the Golden Gate bridge, tearing a huge gap in that span. Oh, and did I mention the Hoover Dam?

But none of these things would have meaning if they put no one at peril. We have to care about the people in the film for all this destruction to have any emotional impact. Carlton Cuse wrote the screenplay for SAN ANDREAS. Cuse’s screen credits include TV’s LOST, BATES MOTEL, THE RETURNED, THE STRAIN, and some of my personal favorite oldies, NASH BRIDGES, BLACK SASH, THE ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY, JR. Cuse has a special talent for combining action plots with character development, giving his characters emotional depth and “history.”

 Cuse has done that with Ray and Emma and Blake in SAN ANDREAS, too. Blake had a sister, who drowned on a family outing. Ray blames himself for not being able to save her. At the beginning of the film, the incident and its consequences have nearly destroyed the family—divorce is imminent, Emma is ready to move in with her architect boyfriend, Blake’s headed off to school. But events intervene and reconciliation becomes possible as Ray shows his stuff, Emma sees her boyfriend’s true colors and Blake is forced to grow up fast. Nice character development in the midst of all that mayhem, I say!

I’ve thought a lot about why I like disaster movies so much. I think it’s because I have a secret fear of the Apocalypse. I’m studying up on survival techniques, reviewing those Too Stupid to Live actions-to-avoid. My favorite book as a kid was Swiss Family Robinson, and my favorite part of that book was the ingenious way they salvaged and made use of what was left from the shipwreck. I joined the Peace Corps later in life and lived without the luxuries of modern life for a time in Africa. I learned some things about boiling water, let me tell you!

But, as my karate teacher always said, the First Rule of Self-Defense is Avoid the Situation. I won’t be living in California—ever. I won’t be building a home too close to water or on a steep mountainside. As long as a sharknado doesn’t come along, I should be okay.

Cheers,

Donna