Question: Why would Sam and his friends go to the library?
Answer: It was the closest building they could access. While the smarter move would have been to just go back to JD's apartment (which Brian and Laura suggest) it may have been too far a walk to get out of the flooding streets.
Why did they burn the books and not the wooden shelves that the books were on?
As for burning books rather than shelves, it was just easier. They would have had to expend more energy to break down the shelves into manageable size.
They burn books instead of the wooden shelves because burning books is a quicker and more efficient way to generate heat in a desperate situation, as the paper readily catches fire and produces a substantial amount of heat compared to solid wood, which might take longer to burn properly.
Factual error: When some people are burning books in the library, one man is adamantly protecting a Gutenberg Bible. Considering how rare and valuable Gutenberg Bibles are, it would not have been on the shelf or even readily accessible. Likely it would be locked in a safe or at least a showcase. Considering the shortage of time to collect fuel and the plethora of books available, I doubt they would break into a locked container to get another bit of fuel.
Suggested correction: According to Wikipedia, and other online sources, the Gutenberg Bible of the New York Public Library is publicly on display. It's shown in as being in a glass display case, there for anyone to see. There's no evidence that the book was taken for fuel. The first we see of it, it's being held by the person safeguarding it. It's possible they took it specifically to keep it safe. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutenberg_Bible.
Suggested correction: He was the head librarian, and as such would have access to the safe/showcase. And he would want to keep the Gutenberg as close as possible to protect it.
That man clutching the Gutenberg was NOT a librarian, much less a "head librarian." He was just one of the civilians who came into the library to escape the climate onslaught. He wouldn't have access to something as precious and priceless as the Gutenberg. Original flaw remains valid.
Question: Most tsunami are caused by earthquakes underwater that trigger a huge wave. However, there are no earthquake-causing fault lines anywhere near New York City. So what caused the tsunami?
Answer: That's not a tsunami - it's a catastrophic rise in sea level caused by the disruption in the ocean's balance. Same basic effect, different cause.
I say it's a storm surge.
Question: After all of the snow melts, wouldn't it go into the ocean and cause the same disruption as before?
Answer: Who says it's going to melt? The point of the movie is that global warming has upset the ocean currents and triggered a new Ice Age. The snow is going to be there for a long time to come yet - say 10,000 years?
At the end of the movie the astronaut reports that he 'has never seen the air so clear.' Perhaps suggesting that the storm has cleared the air. So maybe it does melt. Also, to create 15 feet of snow on top of 1/2 the world, the air moisture would have to come from somewhere, the oceans. And thus bringing back the pre-storm sea levels when melted.
Maybe it will be there for a long time unless we introduce gases in the northern hemisphere re trapping the heat, and melting the snow.
Factual error: Given that the entire premise of the movie revolves around the melting of the ice caps and the disruption this causes, including a rise in sea-levels, and that at then end of the movie most of the Northern Hemisphere outside the tropics is covered by an enormously enlarged ice cap the sea-level should have lowered significantly enough for the shape of the land masses to appear different from space.
Suggested correction: Ice that accumulated on land doesn't change sea levels enough to make the continents appear different.
Other mistake: At the end of the film when they arrive in NYC looking for the library, we know that they survived because they are inside with a roaring fire burning. But where is the smoke up above, as Jack Hall approaches? There must be a chimney, or else they would have all died of asphyxiation.
Suggested correction: As already corrected, just because we can't see an outlet for the smoke doesn't mean there isn't one. White smoke against white snow is very hard to see.
But they were still burning the books, which meant the smoke should be black, if they stop burning the books, the smoke would have been white, which isn't the case in the movie.
Just looked at a boatload of videos of burning books, including one in a fireplace, and the smoke was indeed white.
Other mistake: At the beginning of the film, where Jack falls into the crevice, he's got nothing in his hands. In the next shot, you see he's clinging to the side of the crevice with an ice pick that has mysteriously appeared in his right hand.
Suggested correction: He probably had it hanging from a belt or something seeing as where he is he probably has a tool belt of things just in case something like that happens. He probably just grabbed it from the side you couldn't see.
There was nothing resembling an ice pick hanging from his belt before he fell.
Answer: Possibly because it was the closest building with height to it as they are about to be hit by a gigantic wave of water. There was no snow yet, so I don't believe burning books or snow was on anybody's mind yet. It turned out to be a great idea as snow soon starts to fall and those books were literally a life saver.
Susan D. Santos