Meltdown in Washington over global warming epic; Officials tight-

WORKERS at US government agencies, including Nasa, have been banned from speaking publicly about a controversial Hollywood film depicting mayhem caused by global warming.

Although the multi-million pound movie - The Day After Tomorrow - is not based on scientific fact, the government has demanded silence over the film amid fears it will ignite anger at the Bush administration's inattention to climate change.

A month before the release of the movie, directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal, space agency employees were given a message that "no-one from Nasa is to do interviews or comment on anything to do with" the film.

President George Bush has faced international condemnation over his decision to reject the Kyoto agreement, which sought to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to help combat rapid climate change.

The agreement - signed by Bill Clinton's administration in 1997 - was dismissed by Bush in 2001, despite the country producing 25% of the gases some scientists say are producing global warming.

However, there is mounting concern that the lack of action over the issue will come back to haunt Bush when the film is launched by 20th Century Fox on May 28.

The (pounds) 70 million film, from the makers of the 1996 sci-fi blockbuster Independence Day in which Earth was threatened by aliens, will depict a world in the grip of evironmental disaster.

The trailer, available on the internet, shows the Statue of Liberty being swamped by a tidal wave. As tornadoes batter Los Angeles and snow storms pound New Delhi, climatologist Dennis Quaid finds himself in a battle to find a way to stop the ice age that is gripping the east coast of the US.

While not as dramatic as the Emmerich film, a recent report - An Abrupt Climate Change Scenario And Its Implications For United States National Security - written for the Pentagon, highlighted the dangers.

A 2002 report from the National Academies of Science, the US's top scientific advisory group, also pointed to the risks of future climate shocks. The report suggests that the warming of the planet, caused by melting ice flooding the North Atlantic with fresh water, could disrupt the ocean currents that keep Europe and North America far warmer than they would otherwise be.

Scientists say this has actually occurred twice, 11,500 and 8200 years ago after the last ice age, when temperatures plunged after melting ice sheets fed fresh water into the Atlantic. Some believe that as temperatures are again on the increase causing Arctic ice sheets to melt, another ice age could be triggered.

In the UK, climate change is also back on top of the political agenda. Ahead of Tony Blair's launch on Tuesday of a non- governmental organisation to promote business leadership on climate change, LibDem leader Charles Kennedy urged the Prime Minister to signal the adoption of measures to tackle the problem.

Last week, the government's chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, warned climate change could double the number of properties at risk of flooding to 3.6 million. He called on the government to double investment in flood defences to (pounds) 1 billion per annum.

The Day After Tomorrow, however, is being seen as potentially damaging to the Bush administration, since 2004 is an election year. It is also one of a number of films set to cause unease in the White House. Michael Moore, the Oscar-winning maker of Bowling For Columbine, is to launch his latest documentary in September - two months before the election - which examines "the murky relationship" between George Bush Snr and Osama bin Laden.

In Fahrenheit 911, Moore suggests the former president had a business relationship with bin Laden's father, Mohammed bin Laden, a Saudi construction magnate who left (pounds) 169m to his son. It is widely believed that bin Laden used his legacy to finance global terrorism.

The film examines the aftermath of September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and is expected to allege that the Bush administration exploited the tragedy for its own ends. The film comes in the wake of an investigation into the anti-terrorism policy of the government before the attacks.

Another hard-hitting political drama, due for an autumn release, is Silver City, made by the company behind The Passion Of The Christ. In the film, directed by John Sayles, Chris Cooper stars as the bumbling son of an ultra-conservative political dynasty.

His lack of political ability does not seem to hinder his campaign to be elected governor of Colorado, until the discovery of a body threatens to derail his campaign and tarnish the name of his family and the special-interest groups behind him.

Copyright 2004 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
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