Corrected entry: There are two scenes in which a plane narrowly manages to take off before the ground collapses into the depths of Earth. The problem with these scenes is that those holes would not only swallow the surface, they would also suck in air. Without enough altitude nor enough velocity a plane would therefore be pulled into the new craters. That's why helicopters and small planes are instructed to avoid open-pit mines. And those are just static holes.
BocaDavie
21st Dec 2009
2012 (2009)
25th Nov 2009
2012 (2009)
Corrected entry: In order to successfully seal off a hallway would you not need to seal off the ceiling too? If this is the case why build the sealed passageway under the animal enclosure that has a grated roof - as seen in the scene when the Russian girl drowns. With the rising water and the grated ceiling why did this water not spill over in to the adjoining sections. and furthermore, why was it only the middle compartment that had water that continued to rise?
Correction: The grated "ceiling" is there for the animal feces to drop through. They're not walking through a hallway, they're walking through a trough that holds the animal waste. In case of a hull breach the entire animal pen, living area and waste receptacle included, would be sealed off together as a unit.
2nd Dec 2009
2012 (2009)
Corrected entry: The aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy is shown falling over on its side on top of a tidal wave headed for Washington D.C. Aircraft are slipping off of the deck into the ocean. The aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy has been decommissioned and is no longer in service.
Correction: As of November 2009 the ship was available for donation as a museum and memorial to a qualified organization. Like the Intrepid or any number of other aircraft carriers that have been turned into museums, the USS John F. Kennedy may become a floating musuem by 2012, complete with aircraft displayed on deck.
18th Nov 2009
2012 (2009)
Corrected entry: During the LA escape sequence, the limo avoids the giant donut from Randy's Donut. After the limo passes the donut rolls through the pedestrian crossing and goes behind a stop sign facing the wrong way. Inside joke?
18th Nov 2009
2012 (2009)
Corrected entry: When Krakatoa blew in 1883, it ejected some 5 cubic miles of debris into the atmosphere, dropping the average global temperature by as much as 1.2 degrees Celcius for the next year. It has been postulated that should the Yellowstone supervolcano erupt, it would exceed the last eruption, which ejected 240 cubic miles into the atmosphere. In the 28 days that pass before the denizens of the arks are permitted to go outside, the ash and debris from not only Yellowstone, but the scores of volcanoes that erupted almost simultaneously would have blocked the skies world wide. Not only would the citizens have been forbidden to emerge from their cocoons, but satellite views of Africa would have been impossible, and whatever crops survived the earthquakes and lava would have already started to perish.
Correction: True, if you only take the volcanic activity into consideration. But this is multiple volcano eruptions (one even turning Hawaii into a field of flowing magma) coupled with tsunamis that cover the land masses immediately afterward. The tsunamis would severely supress the effects of the volcanos (they won't do as much damage when submerged) and all the precipitation caused by the interraction between the magma and seawater would help clear the atmosphere of ash and debris.
21st Nov 2009
2012 (2009)
Corrected entry: Just after the 5 people take off from Yellowstone Park, the earth beneath them caves in. A huge mass like that falling down would create an enormous downdraught and suck the rather small plane with it.
Correction: True, but remember the premise of the movie. The continents are breaking apart because the earth's mantle is heating up. The huge land mass falls into the heated mantle; the heated gasses would rise rapidly, counteracting the effects of the downdraught. Indeed, the plane does lose some altitude immediately after the collapse, then is able to climb again shortly after.
Correction: Already submitted and corrected. The continents are breaking apart because the earth's mantle is heating up. The huge land mass falls into the heated mantle; the heated gasses would rise rapidly, counteracting the effects of the downdraught. Indeed, the plane does lose some altitude immediately after the collapse, then is able to climb again shortly after. As for the velocity, you are making an assumption to say that the plane was not going fast enough.
BocaDavie ★