Day 180: The Ice Warriors ONE

New story, new location. This time, we're in Earth's near future, and it's both amusing and terrifying to see how things will pan out in the history of Earth, according to Doctor Who. This is because this story has climate change as the background. Right now, you're probably thinking "Wow, wasn't Doctor Who really forward thinking in the 1960's, having a story all about climate change before we realised how much it truly affects us" (unless you happen to be a idiot, in which case you're probably thinking that because climate change appeared on a science fiction program, it is therefore science fiction, at which point you shall resume diving into your pools of cash, Scrooge McDuck style). But, this episode gets it slightly wrong. And by slightly, I mean catastrophically. You see, it is stated that all the plants have died out, causing a lack of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This is wrong. Plants convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, thus meaning that we can still breathe without having to wear face masks all the time. A lack of plants would mean an excess of carbon dioxide, which would enhance the Greenhouse Effect. The Greenhouse Effect is that carbon dioxide and other 'greenhouse gases' form an atmospheric layer around the Earth, meaning that heat from the Sun is kept within the Earth's atmosphere and thus ensuring that we don't all freeze to death (as is happening in this episode, incidentally, meaning that it was right about something, a lack of carbon dioxide would cause things to become rather colder). Therefore, if the Greenhouse layer is increased due to more carbon dioxide, due to the lack of plants, then that would mean that we would experience a sort of 'global warming', or a 'climate change' which would mean that humanity would be somewhat doomed. So, in conclusion, this story has some poor scientific choices, but it is nice that the writer, Brian Hayles, did consider the environment when constructing this story, even if he had no idea how to go about it.

Also, I'd just like to give a quick thank you to both Lesley Wong and Mitchell McLeod, who both backed up my scientific hypothesis. The moral of the story is always back up your scientific claims before you post them online.