This is not necessarily an indefensible trope. Overlaps with Abusive Advertising if the message is "Buy our product or you'll meet with a grisly end somehow." Overlaps with Spoof Aesop when the author is more interested in the space whale than the Aesop. Overlaps with Gaia's Vengeance if the intended message is an environmental one, which it often is. The Space Whale Aesop promotes or discourages a course of action which can be attempted in Real Life ("don't perform nuclear tests") by showing consequences that strain credibility ("radiation from the tests will awaken a giant monster that destroys Tokyo") instead of a more realistic but not quite as dramatic example ("it can burn whole buildings if someone is careless"). " Never use black magic to resurrect your dead dog") by showing a reasonably plausible (in the fictional world) set of consequences ("Poor beloved Tropey Came Back Wrong"). The Fantastic Aesop promotes or discourages a course of action which can't even be attempted in the real world (e.g. This trope should not be confused with Fantastic Aesop.
Named for (and derived from) the plot of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, which can best be summed up as " Don't let whales go extinct, or else an alien probe will eradicate the planet." Often, how well it comes off depends on how close you're looking and (if the consequences are still unknown) what you believe. When done wrong, it defies all logic and muddles the connection it has with the action itself. You know irreparable damage will be done, but not what irreparable damage and so arrange it so audiences can comprehend that unknown consequences is still something to be afraid of. When done right, the improbable consequence will remain a close analogy or a sharp metaphor to the probable one - just increased in scale, speed or concreteness. So the determined consequence is improbable and highly unforeseeable to scare you into complying. How can we be sure what will happen 3 to 300 years after certain choices are made? Worse, maybe there isn't yet agreement on what the real consequences are. Maybe any subtlety will be lost so that it's hard to show why the action should be taken. Maybe it takes decades to show up, if they show up at all. The trouble is realistic consequences, while they may be serious, aren't the sort that can easily be made to fit the Rule of Perception. Events are placed in motion, there's a course of action that needs to be taken or avoided, and there will be tragic consequences of not doing the correct action. There is an important Aesop being set up for the audience. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, " Reptile Boy"
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