Factual error: Air descending cannot cause temperatures to reach a point where things freeze as fast as they do in the film. Firstly, the temperature of the upper troposphere is only -60° Fahrenheit. Secondly, air will warm as it descends no matter how fast it's descending, and the warming process will always prevent the air from getting cold enough to freeze things as fast as in in the movie.
Factual error: In the scene where the three scientists are walking on top of the mall and the older scientist falls through the glass, the rope becomes taut against the edge of the glass, stopping his forward motion, but he doesn't swing. The other two look through the glass and he's perfectly still, but he should be swinging, especially with the sled hanging down below him which would add even more movement.
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.
Factual error: When the North Atlantic current is shown on a world map, there are a couple of errors on it. 1) South East Asia is missing, and 2) Arabia is joined to Africa.
Factual error: The penicillin should have been frozen since it was in liquid form. And it's never in liquid form in a vial. It's mixed with a powder and it's a milky white color, not clear.
Visible crew/equipment: When the janitor is approaching the door you can see a shadow of a man, which isn't the janitor's, in the background holding something that appears to be a microphone. (00:30:05)
Character mistake: When Jack arrives in New York he's right next to the Statue of Liberty. However when he reaches the library he comes from the East River and walks west. That is a pretty big detour around the southeastern corner of Manhattan, instead of taking the direct route. (01:47:00 - 01:48:20)
Suggested correction: Easier to walk in an open area and have a short distance walking between buildings rather than walking through the city where the terrain may not be the best even with the snow/ice.
Factual error: There is a scene where a helicopter's tail rotor freezes up, causing the copter to spin out of control and crash. The problem with this scene is that the helicopter starts to spin clockwise, in the SAME direction as the main rotor blades. In actuality, engine torque would cause a conventional tail-rotor helicopter to spin in the OPPOSITE direction of the rotor blades, in the event of a tail rotor failure.
Continuity mistake: When we see the news report on the TV, you can see that people are taking bottles of water from the shelves. Beside the TV you see a person's hand on the right side of the TV and a black tea flask as well. In the next shot the person's hand is much further away from the screen and the tea flask has also been moved to the opposite side of the TV. (00:35:15)
Factual error: When the International Space Station gets a call from Houston asking them to confirm the storm is dissipating the station is over Europe moving on a westbound trajectory. The International Space Station moves on an eastward trajectory, not westward. (01:45:35)
Audio problem: The pitch of an airliner's engine doesn't change dramatically when going through rough turbulence. In the scene with the turbulence - after all is quiet, it almost sounds as if the engines are shut down. And it happens way to fast for it to be the pilots doing it. And why would the pilots speed up when entering turbulence?
Plot hole: Dennis Quaid and his companion seem to have no problems staying warm in just a tent while preparing to sleep for the night; they are actually shown with removed layers of clothing while in the tent. Yet the survivors in the library are covered from head to toe in clothing and blankets.
Suggested correction: Jack and Jason are both extremely close to the heat source in the tent when they sleep at night (within a foot or less) and it's also possible the tent is rated for arctic survival, whereas the survivors in the library aren't always close to the only heat source (being the fireplace). Just because you are inside doesn't mean it's automatically warm. Just like in a house or a garage, even with proper insulation the temperature inside can be equal to the temperature outside.
Continuity mistake: Just after Jack comes out of the New Delhi conference, he is talking with Terry Rapson. At the right of the screen at the stand, there is a guy with a red hat/turban and scarf and no other people behind him with turbans. However, in Terry's close-up the man wearing the red turban has vanished and there are a lot more people in the background wearing turbans. (00:08:05)
Factual error: At the end of the film a wing of Black Hawk helicopters are dispatched to NYC to evacuate survivors. The Black Hawk does not have anywhere near the fuel capacity for such a trip. And at its cruising speed, it would take a day to get there anyway.
Suggested correction: We don't know where the helicopters originated from. We only see the head of the NOAA hop in one down in Mexico, and then we cut to the fleet over NYC. He also is wearing heavier clothing for winter conditions so it's possible they originated from elsewhere.
Continuity mistake: As the massive tidal wave is rolling through Manhattan, when it cuts to Sam looking at Laura from the steps, the two taxis in front of the library are further away from each other, than in the following shot when Sam has to jump on the cars just to get over them. (00:48:00)
Continuity mistake: When Jack and Lucy are talking about Sam failing class on the phone and Lucy says "I don't have time to talk about this right now", it shows Sam eating and a milk pack with its opening pointing left. When it cuts the opening is pointing right. (00:12:25)
Continuity mistake: When the two men at the start of the film are saving Dennis Quaid from falling, you can see Quaid reach for one of the others' hands, then that guy grabs him with both hands, but in the following shot, Quaid is holding the hands of both men. (00:05:25)
Factual error: When the big wave comes, it's hitting New York harbor and the Statue of Liberty from the west. Possible I guess but unlikely due to the fact that the harbor just starts there; the west side of the harbor isn't the ocean side, it's New Jersey. Later, the people are standing in front of the library, which faces east and the wave is coming right at them. Then they show an overhead shot of the water overtaking the city and its coming from the south.
Suggested correction: The water is coming from the Atlantic. It probably already overcame parts of New Jersey and areas like Long Island and Brooklyn, but they just showed it entering the harbor. As far as it coming from the east, the water probably hit the island of Manhattan and the east river probably also started to rise which would eventually overtake the island as well coming towards the library from the east.
Continuity mistake: When the huge tidal wave hits the bus you see a man standing on top of a taxi, number 7Z22, which gets crushed by the water. Moments afterwards you hear the French woman saying that she left her bag behind. If you look on the right side of Laura you can see a still intact taxi with the number 7Z22 on it. (00:47:30 - 00:48:00)
Continuity mistake: At the end of the movie, when they are all in the helicopter, it cuts to a view of them looking out the window. In this shot, the black actor is sitting next to the window, on the other side of the helicopter, but in the following one, he has suddenly switched seats, and is no longer sitting next to the window. (01:49:40)
