An Earth without people
- Without humans, nuclear reactors will shut down into a "safe mode".
- America Southwest will the last glows of artificial light be seen.
- Quagga Muscles contributes to the shut down of Hoover Dam
- Colorado River begins to dry once the dam shuts down
- 5 years later, all the man-made structure would be taken over by plants.
- After 20 years, wild animals return and make new home on decaying walls.
- Prippiat is a place that scientists have found to study what will happen when people are gone.
- Ice and vegetation roots spread through the cracks and push apart the concrete on the foundation of buildings.
- After 25 years, feral dogs now roam the land.
- London and Amsterdam will flood once we are gone.
- Wolf population increase as much as 6 times per year.
Given the mounting toll of fouled oceans, overheated air, missing topsoil, and mass extinctions, we might sometimes wonder what our planet would be like if humans suddenly disappeared. Would Superfund sites revert to Gardens of Eden? Would the seas again fill with fish? Would our concrete cities crumble to dust from the force of tree roots, water, and weeds? How long would it take for our traces to vanish? And if we could answer such questions, would we be more in awe of the changes we have wrought, or of nature’s resilience?
Weisman uses the fate of the Mayan civilization to illustrate the possibility of an entrenched society vanishing and how the natural environment quickly conceals evidence. To demonstrate how vegetation could compromise human built infrastructure, Weisman interviewed hydrologists and employees at the Panama Canal, where constant maintenance is
required to keep the jungle vegetation and silt away from the dams. To lustrate abandoned cities succumbing to nature, Weisman reports from Chernobyl, Ukraine (abandoned in 1986) and Varosha, Cyprus (abandoned in 1974). Weisman finds that their structures crumble as weather does unrepaired damage and other life forms create new habitats. In Turkey, Weisman contrasts the construction practices of the rapidly growing Istanbul, as typical for large cities in less developed countries, with the underground cities in Cappadocia. Due to a large demand for housing in stanbul much of it was developed quickly with whatever material was available and could collapse in a major earthquake or other natural disaster. Cappadocian underground cities were built thousands of years ago out of volcanic tuff, and are likely to survive for centuries to come.
Weisman uses New York City as a model to outline how an unmaintained urban area would deconstruct. He explains that sewers would clog, underground streams would flood subway corridors, and soils under roads would erode and cave in. From interviews with members of the Wildlife Conservation Society and the New York Botanical Gardens Weisman predicts that native vegetation would return, spreading from parks and out-surviving invasive species. Without humans to provide food and warmth, rats and cockroaches would die off.
So what?
- If without human, this planet won't have pollution going on. But when people are all disappeared, it will be a mess left behind. It's not a best choice for planet, if people are all gone. People just have to make changes to help save our planet. Which is what environmentalists, or scientists trying to get through.
What if?
- Human disappeared? Then all man-made structures will be destroy by plants, temperature, etc. Pet becomes wild, life for plants would be able to start over. New world would begin to happen within the old one.
Says who?
- Author Alan Weisman about Earth without people.
What does this remind me of?
- This remind me of The Human Footprint video we watched. Without human all the problems caused wound not continue to exist. What we need to do is pay more attention to our planet. ACTION with CAUTION!
- America Southwest will the last glows of artificial light be seen.
- Quagga Muscles contributes to the shut down of Hoover Dam
- Colorado River begins to dry once the dam shuts down
- 5 years later, all the man-made structure would be taken over by plants.
- After 20 years, wild animals return and make new home on decaying walls.
- Prippiat is a place that scientists have found to study what will happen when people are gone.
- Ice and vegetation roots spread through the cracks and push apart the concrete on the foundation of buildings.
- After 25 years, feral dogs now roam the land.
- London and Amsterdam will flood once we are gone.
- Wolf population increase as much as 6 times per year.
Given the mounting toll of fouled oceans, overheated air, missing topsoil, and mass extinctions, we might sometimes wonder what our planet would be like if humans suddenly disappeared. Would Superfund sites revert to Gardens of Eden? Would the seas again fill with fish? Would our concrete cities crumble to dust from the force of tree roots, water, and weeds? How long would it take for our traces to vanish? And if we could answer such questions, would we be more in awe of the changes we have wrought, or of nature’s resilience?
Weisman uses the fate of the Mayan civilization to illustrate the possibility of an entrenched society vanishing and how the natural environment quickly conceals evidence. To demonstrate how vegetation could compromise human built infrastructure, Weisman interviewed hydrologists and employees at the Panama Canal, where constant maintenance is
required to keep the jungle vegetation and silt away from the dams. To lustrate abandoned cities succumbing to nature, Weisman reports from Chernobyl, Ukraine (abandoned in 1986) and Varosha, Cyprus (abandoned in 1974). Weisman finds that their structures crumble as weather does unrepaired damage and other life forms create new habitats. In Turkey, Weisman contrasts the construction practices of the rapidly growing Istanbul, as typical for large cities in less developed countries, with the underground cities in Cappadocia. Due to a large demand for housing in stanbul much of it was developed quickly with whatever material was available and could collapse in a major earthquake or other natural disaster. Cappadocian underground cities were built thousands of years ago out of volcanic tuff, and are likely to survive for centuries to come.
Weisman uses New York City as a model to outline how an unmaintained urban area would deconstruct. He explains that sewers would clog, underground streams would flood subway corridors, and soils under roads would erode and cave in. From interviews with members of the Wildlife Conservation Society and the New York Botanical Gardens Weisman predicts that native vegetation would return, spreading from parks and out-surviving invasive species. Without humans to provide food and warmth, rats and cockroaches would die off.
So what?
- If without human, this planet won't have pollution going on. But when people are all disappeared, it will be a mess left behind. It's not a best choice for planet, if people are all gone. People just have to make changes to help save our planet. Which is what environmentalists, or scientists trying to get through.
What if?
- Human disappeared? Then all man-made structures will be destroy by plants, temperature, etc. Pet becomes wild, life for plants would be able to start over. New world would begin to happen within the old one.
Says who?
- Author Alan Weisman about Earth without people.
What does this remind me of?
- This remind me of The Human Footprint video we watched. Without human all the problems caused wound not continue to exist. What we need to do is pay more attention to our planet. ACTION with CAUTION!