THE Statue of Liberty buried under snow and a tidal wave washing down New York's Fifth Avenue.

Those are just two of the doomsday images from the new $125million blockbuster starring Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal.

The film's makers say it could happen if we do not cut carbon dioxide emissions that are leading to global temperature change.

The film portrays a scenario where the Gulf Stream, the warm air current from the South Atlantic -- shuts down, plunging the world into a new ice age.

But do the facts match the fiction of the silver screen?

"Although it cannot be ruled out it is more likely that global warming will lead to an increase in temperature rather than the cooling effect we see in the film," said Simon Shackley, a climate change expert based at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in Manchester.

"You are talking about an average temperature change of 2 to 5 degrees Celsius by 2050. We could also get big changes in rainfall, and potentially far more flooding.

"Places like the Ribble Valley could have huge problems with flooding particularly as rainfall seems to be getting more intense."

Chris Southgate, a senior lecturer in environmental management at the University of Central Lancashire, said: "Of course it could happen one day but certainly not in such a short space of time. But these changes in climate are definitely linked to global warming and we should be taking it a lot more seriously.

"It may be half a degree cooler on average in a few years than it is now but it is still a significant change. We are noticing ice on Windermere again when we never used to and we might well see those cold winters coming back. It is significant for agriculture because subtle changes in temperature can have a fairly big impact on crop production.

"All natural disasters are exaggerated in movies but it is important because it shows we cannot turn a blind eye to global warming."

Last month the Environment Agency brought scientists and environmental experts together in Warrington to discuss the most pressing environmental issues.

They have set up a programme called 'climate change impacts and adaptation research projects' to look at global warming and its effects in our region.

Scientists who back the global warming theory say the earth is rapidly heating because of the greenhouse gas effect caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

Britain is responsible for three per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions - the same as the whole of Africa.

But while the experts think about how best to combat these emissions what do people the Ribble Valley think of the threat of global warming?

Ted Boden, a Ribble Valley weather enthusiast living in Chatburn, said: "I live 300ft above sea level so it won't be a problem for us but places such as Sawley and Ribchester will be affected by rising water and flooding."