An Earth WITHOUT PEOPLE
Notes:
- I discov- ered that our huge, imposing, overwhelming in- frastructures that seem so monumental and in- destructible are actually these fairly fragile con- cepts that continue to function and exist thanks to a few human beings on whom all of us really depend.
It’s under- ground.
-Some of it runs through the sewage sys- tem, but a sewage system is never as efficient as nature in wicking away water. So there is a lot of groundwater rushing around underneath,
trying to get out. Even on a clear, sunny day, the people who keep the subway going have to pump 13 million gallons of water away. Other- wise the tunnels will start to flood.
-Nature, it is said, abhors a vacuum. If humans were to disappear, could another species evolve into a tool-making, crop-raising, language-using beast that would dominate the planet? According to Alan Weisman, baboons might have a reasonable shot. They have the largest brains of any primate besides Homo sapiens, and like us they adapted to living in savannas as forest habitats in Africa shrank.
-7 DAYS Nuclear reactors burn or melt down as their water- cooling sys- tems fail.
-1 YEAR Street pave- ments split and buckle as water in the cracks freezes and thaws.
-2 DAYS AFTER THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HUMANS Without constant pumping, New York City’s subway system completely fills with water.
-2 TO 4 YEARS In New York and other cities, cracked streets become covered with weeds and, later, colonizing trees whose roots upheave
.- Once the pumps stop working, the subways start filling with water. Within 48 hours you’re going to have a lot of flooding in New York City. Some of this would be visible on the surface. You might have some sewers overflowing. Those sewers would very quickly become clogged with debris—in the be- ginning the innumerable plastic bags that are blowing around the city and later, if nobody is trimming the hedges in the parks, you’re going to have leaf litter clogging up the sewers.
. -When a building would fall, it would take down a couple of oth- ers as it went, creating a clearing. Into those clearings would blow seeds from plants, and those seeds would establish themselves in the cracks in the pavement. They would already be rooting in leaf litter anyhow, but the addition of lime from powdered concrete would create a less acidic environment for various species. A city would start to develop its own little ecosys- tem. Every spring when the temperature would be hovering on one side or the other of freezing, new cracks would appear. Water would go down into the cracks and freeze. The cracks would widen, and seeds would blow in there. It would happen very quickly.”
-They have the largest brains of any primate besides Homo sapiens, and like us they adapted to living in savannas as forest habitats in Africa shrank. Hollywood, with its long series of Planet of the Apes mov- ies, seems to agree with Weisman. A second out-of-Africa sce- nario could play out hundreds of thousands of years after the first. One wonders what the baboon archaeologists of the future would make of the extraordinary human artifacts— sculptures, cutlery, plastic bags—buried just beneath their feet.
-5 YEARS Large parts of New York may be burned by now; a lightning strike on uncollect- ed dead branches in Central Park could easily start a catastrophic fire.
-20 YEARS Dozens of streams and marshes form in Manhattan as collapsed streets fill with water.
-100 YEARS The roofs of nearly all houses have caved in, accelerating the deterioration of the structures.
-500 YEARS Mature forests cover the New York metropolitan area.
-4 YEARS Without heat, homes and office buildings fall victim to the freeze/thaw cycle and begin to crumble.
-But Africa is the place where human beings and animals evolved together, and the animals there learned strategies to avoid our predation. Without humans, North America would probably become a giant deer habitat in the near term. As forests would become reestab- lished across the continent, eventually—in evo- lutionary time—larger herbivores would evolve to take advantage of all the nutrients locked up in woody species. Larger predators would evolve accordingly.”
-Thinking about an earth without humans
-THE WINNERS... Our demise would be good news for many species. Below is a small sample of the animals and plants that would benefit from the disappearance of humans.
BIRDS: Without skyscrapers and power lines to fly into, at least a billion birds would avoid break- ing their necks every year.
TREES: In New York, oaks and maples, along with the invasive Chinese ailanthus, would claim the city.
MOSQUITOES: As extermination efforts cease and wetlands rebound, great clouds of the insects would feed on other wildlife.
FERAL HOUSE CATS: They would probably do well dining on small mam- mals and birds in the posthuman world.
10 MILLION YEARS Bronze sculptures, many of which still retain their original shape, survive as relics of the human age.
HUMANITY’S LONG FADE-OUT
-Because frankly, whenever we read about those things, our con- cern is: Oh, my God, are we going to die? Is this going to be the end? My book eliminates that concern right at the beginning by saying the end has already taken place. For whatever reason, human beings are gone, and now we get to sit back and see what happens in our absence. It’s a delicious little way of reducing all the fear and anxiety. And looking at what would happen in our absence is another way of looking at, well, what goes on in our presence.
-You begin to think there’s probably no way that we are going to have any kind of positive outcome, that we are looking at an overwhelming tide of geologic proportions that the human race has loosed on the earth. I raise one possibility toward the end of the book that humans can continue to be part of the ecosystem in a way that is much more in balance with the rest of the planet. “It’s something that I approach by first look- ing at not just the horrible things that we have created that are so frightening—such as our ra- dioactivity and pollutants, some of which may be around until the end of the planet—but also some of the beautiful things that we have done. I raise the question, Wouldn’t it be a sad loss if humanity was extirpated from the planet? What about our greatest acts of art and expression? Our most beautiful sculpture? Our finest archi- tecture? Will there be any signs of us at all that would indicate that we were here at one point? This is the second reaction that I always get from people. At first they think, This world would be beautiful without us. But then they think, Wouldn’t it be sad not to have us here? And I don’t think it’s necessary for us to all dis- appear for the earth to come back to a healthier state.”
- I discov- ered that our huge, imposing, overwhelming in- frastructures that seem so monumental and in- destructible are actually these fairly fragile con- cepts that continue to function and exist thanks to a few human beings on whom all of us really depend.
It’s under- ground.
-Some of it runs through the sewage sys- tem, but a sewage system is never as efficient as nature in wicking away water. So there is a lot of groundwater rushing around underneath,
trying to get out. Even on a clear, sunny day, the people who keep the subway going have to pump 13 million gallons of water away. Other- wise the tunnels will start to flood.
-Nature, it is said, abhors a vacuum. If humans were to disappear, could another species evolve into a tool-making, crop-raising, language-using beast that would dominate the planet? According to Alan Weisman, baboons might have a reasonable shot. They have the largest brains of any primate besides Homo sapiens, and like us they adapted to living in savannas as forest habitats in Africa shrank.
-7 DAYS Nuclear reactors burn or melt down as their water- cooling sys- tems fail.
-1 YEAR Street pave- ments split and buckle as water in the cracks freezes and thaws.
-2 DAYS AFTER THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HUMANS Without constant pumping, New York City’s subway system completely fills with water.
-2 TO 4 YEARS In New York and other cities, cracked streets become covered with weeds and, later, colonizing trees whose roots upheave
.- Once the pumps stop working, the subways start filling with water. Within 48 hours you’re going to have a lot of flooding in New York City. Some of this would be visible on the surface. You might have some sewers overflowing. Those sewers would very quickly become clogged with debris—in the be- ginning the innumerable plastic bags that are blowing around the city and later, if nobody is trimming the hedges in the parks, you’re going to have leaf litter clogging up the sewers.
. -When a building would fall, it would take down a couple of oth- ers as it went, creating a clearing. Into those clearings would blow seeds from plants, and those seeds would establish themselves in the cracks in the pavement. They would already be rooting in leaf litter anyhow, but the addition of lime from powdered concrete would create a less acidic environment for various species. A city would start to develop its own little ecosys- tem. Every spring when the temperature would be hovering on one side or the other of freezing, new cracks would appear. Water would go down into the cracks and freeze. The cracks would widen, and seeds would blow in there. It would happen very quickly.”
-They have the largest brains of any primate besides Homo sapiens, and like us they adapted to living in savannas as forest habitats in Africa shrank. Hollywood, with its long series of Planet of the Apes mov- ies, seems to agree with Weisman. A second out-of-Africa sce- nario could play out hundreds of thousands of years after the first. One wonders what the baboon archaeologists of the future would make of the extraordinary human artifacts— sculptures, cutlery, plastic bags—buried just beneath their feet.
-5 YEARS Large parts of New York may be burned by now; a lightning strike on uncollect- ed dead branches in Central Park could easily start a catastrophic fire.
-20 YEARS Dozens of streams and marshes form in Manhattan as collapsed streets fill with water.
-100 YEARS The roofs of nearly all houses have caved in, accelerating the deterioration of the structures.
-500 YEARS Mature forests cover the New York metropolitan area.
-4 YEARS Without heat, homes and office buildings fall victim to the freeze/thaw cycle and begin to crumble.
-But Africa is the place where human beings and animals evolved together, and the animals there learned strategies to avoid our predation. Without humans, North America would probably become a giant deer habitat in the near term. As forests would become reestab- lished across the continent, eventually—in evo- lutionary time—larger herbivores would evolve to take advantage of all the nutrients locked up in woody species. Larger predators would evolve accordingly.”
-Thinking about an earth without humans
-THE WINNERS... Our demise would be good news for many species. Below is a small sample of the animals and plants that would benefit from the disappearance of humans.
BIRDS: Without skyscrapers and power lines to fly into, at least a billion birds would avoid break- ing their necks every year.
TREES: In New York, oaks and maples, along with the invasive Chinese ailanthus, would claim the city.
MOSQUITOES: As extermination efforts cease and wetlands rebound, great clouds of the insects would feed on other wildlife.
FERAL HOUSE CATS: They would probably do well dining on small mam- mals and birds in the posthuman world.
10 MILLION YEARS Bronze sculptures, many of which still retain their original shape, survive as relics of the human age.
HUMANITY’S LONG FADE-OUT
-Because frankly, whenever we read about those things, our con- cern is: Oh, my God, are we going to die? Is this going to be the end? My book eliminates that concern right at the beginning by saying the end has already taken place. For whatever reason, human beings are gone, and now we get to sit back and see what happens in our absence. It’s a delicious little way of reducing all the fear and anxiety. And looking at what would happen in our absence is another way of looking at, well, what goes on in our presence.
-You begin to think there’s probably no way that we are going to have any kind of positive outcome, that we are looking at an overwhelming tide of geologic proportions that the human race has loosed on the earth. I raise one possibility toward the end of the book that humans can continue to be part of the ecosystem in a way that is much more in balance with the rest of the planet. “It’s something that I approach by first look- ing at not just the horrible things that we have created that are so frightening—such as our ra- dioactivity and pollutants, some of which may be around until the end of the planet—but also some of the beautiful things that we have done. I raise the question, Wouldn’t it be a sad loss if humanity was extirpated from the planet? What about our greatest acts of art and expression? Our most beautiful sculpture? Our finest archi- tecture? Will there be any signs of us at all that would indicate that we were here at one point? This is the second reaction that I always get from people. At first they think, This world would be beautiful without us. But then they think, Wouldn’t it be sad not to have us here? And I don’t think it’s necessary for us to all dis- appear for the earth to come back to a healthier state.”
Summary:
This article was about the impact on the earth once people leave the earth. The impact of people now is very important as well. For example their is a lot of people that work underground in the underground train or called subways. Their jobs are to take the water out by pumping it out. The people have been wondering that the only animal that would be close to human way are apes. The impact that the disappearance of people is large for example, by 7 days Nuclear reactors burn or melt down as their cooling systems fail, in one year the Street pavements split and buckle as water in the cracks freezes and thaws,2 days after the subways will be filled with water, and by lastly 2 to 4 year in New York cracked streets would be covered with weeds and later trees will grow. The way the streets will crack and plants growing in them would be when building fall down and create a clearing and the clearings will create seeds and blow them into the cracks. 5 years later larger parts of New York city would be burned,20 years later streams and marshes will overflow the streets, 100 years their would be deterioration of structures, 500 years later a forest will cover places such as New York. The impacts on some animals is very important. Some animals will be able to live without us but some will die without us being their to help. Birds, without skyscrapers and power lines to fly into, at least a billion birds would avoid breaking their necks every year.Trees, In New York, oaks and maples, along with the invasive Chinese assailants, would claim the city.Mosquitoes, as extermination efforts cease and wetlands rebound, great clouds of the insects would feed on other wildlife. Feral House Cats, they would probably do well dining on small mammals and birds in the post human world. These animals will benefit but not all the time. We always think about us though and never about these animals, humans always think about if we are going to did or what will happen to us. We never truly ask ourselves what would happen to the animals and the world but if we were gone these things would happen. Even though much of the damage we caused now will affect the future we have to think about the good things we die like pyramids and cool buildings. Our presence was still important.
What it makes me think...
This article made me think a lot about the impact on animals and the wild we have. The Human Footprint is a big impact and we do have a lot of big things that are harmful for the environment. This article surprised me because its explaining how big of an impact we have on this world when were gone. We will leave many of our discoveries and accomplishments behind which will affect. The truth is that many of these things might be guesses depending on the areas of the world. The surprising thing is even though were gone we will still impact. Another thing that i thought was really interesting was that its true how we as humans are selfish and always think about how will we did, what will happen in the future for us? We always think of ourselves and never about the impact we have on things.
This article was about the impact on the earth once people leave the earth. The impact of people now is very important as well. For example their is a lot of people that work underground in the underground train or called subways. Their jobs are to take the water out by pumping it out. The people have been wondering that the only animal that would be close to human way are apes. The impact that the disappearance of people is large for example, by 7 days Nuclear reactors burn or melt down as their cooling systems fail, in one year the Street pavements split and buckle as water in the cracks freezes and thaws,2 days after the subways will be filled with water, and by lastly 2 to 4 year in New York cracked streets would be covered with weeds and later trees will grow. The way the streets will crack and plants growing in them would be when building fall down and create a clearing and the clearings will create seeds and blow them into the cracks. 5 years later larger parts of New York city would be burned,20 years later streams and marshes will overflow the streets, 100 years their would be deterioration of structures, 500 years later a forest will cover places such as New York. The impacts on some animals is very important. Some animals will be able to live without us but some will die without us being their to help. Birds, without skyscrapers and power lines to fly into, at least a billion birds would avoid breaking their necks every year.Trees, In New York, oaks and maples, along with the invasive Chinese assailants, would claim the city.Mosquitoes, as extermination efforts cease and wetlands rebound, great clouds of the insects would feed on other wildlife. Feral House Cats, they would probably do well dining on small mammals and birds in the post human world. These animals will benefit but not all the time. We always think about us though and never about these animals, humans always think about if we are going to did or what will happen to us. We never truly ask ourselves what would happen to the animals and the world but if we were gone these things would happen. Even though much of the damage we caused now will affect the future we have to think about the good things we die like pyramids and cool buildings. Our presence was still important.
What it makes me think...
This article made me think a lot about the impact on animals and the wild we have. The Human Footprint is a big impact and we do have a lot of big things that are harmful for the environment. This article surprised me because its explaining how big of an impact we have on this world when were gone. We will leave many of our discoveries and accomplishments behind which will affect. The truth is that many of these things might be guesses depending on the areas of the world. The surprising thing is even though were gone we will still impact. Another thing that i thought was really interesting was that its true how we as humans are selfish and always think about how will we did, what will happen in the future for us? We always think of ourselves and never about the impact we have on things.
So what? Says who? What if...?What does this remind me of?
So what?
-This is important to know because we need to take action on what we do what impact we will leave and what can happen to earth once all humans disapere. |
says who?
The information was actually based on research and the types of material we use so this can actually be a say from everyone. |
What if?
If humans were to disapeer this would be the outcome that we think will happen not everything will happen this way but these are some things that will happen. |
What does this remind me of?
-This reminds me of the movie 2012 this seems very unrealistic as something that it reminds me of but it does because that movie has to do about the people that only care about what will happen to us humans. |