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Reviews: The World Without Us by Alan Weisman | LibraryThing
"Suppose that the worst has happened. Human extinction is a fait accompli. Not by a nuclear calamity, asteroid collision, or anything ruinous enough to also wipe out most everything else, leaving whatever remained in some radically altered, reduced state. Not by some grim eco-scenario in which we agonizingly fade, dragging many more species with us in the process. Instead, picture a world from which we all suddenly vanished. Tomorrow."
This is author Alan Weisman’s “creative experiment” – imagine, if you will, THE WORLD WITHOUT US. Which species will die off, and which will survive and even thrive in our absence? Would endangered species ever be able to bounce back? What of our primate cousins – would another great ape ever again venture from her jungle habitat and evolve into a species similar to homo sapiens? How long will it take nature to reclaim our homes and office buildings, streets and subways, cities and ecosystems? What of our knowledge, art, and technology? Will anything human remain?
Weisman’s answers are both encouraging and depressing. Environmentalists – indeed, any person modicum of decency - will be happy to know that much of what we’ve done to the Earth, can be quickly undone. With the exception of those species we’ve already managed to eradicate, many endangered and threatened animal species do stand a fighting chance in a world without us. Many of our “greatest accomplishments,” from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Hoover Dam, will eventually crumble without humans around to maintain them. Forests, grasslands, and jungles will recover lost ground, though native species will be forced into competition with exotic ones introduced by humans. Global warming will slow and the ozone layer will regain molecular equilibrium. Our most enduring legacies will be our most unnatural creations: nuclear waste, plastics, and petrochemicals. Hopefully a world without us will evolve microbes to digest the more than one billion pounds of plastic we’ve dumped into the environment since the late ‘50s.
While Weisman’s optimism for Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (VHEMT), the prospect of a world without humans – including any indication that we ever even existed – is a humbling prospect. Without us, much of our knowledge will be lost to the earth. Then again, considering the ways in which we misused it, maybe this is not altogether a bad thing.
Whether it happens tomorrow or in 900 million years – when our Sun enters a red giant phase and begins to expand and contract, thus heating the Earth and evaporating our surface water – we will disappear. In this regard, we’re no better than the great Book Review: The World Without Us by Alan Weisman (2007) on easyVegan.info;
This is author Alan Weisman’s “creative experiment” – imagine, if you will, THE WORLD WITHOUT US. Which species will die off, and which will survive and even thrive in our absence? Would endangered species ever be able to bounce back? What of our primate cousins – would another great ape ever again venture from her jungle habitat and evolve into a species similar to homo sapiens? How long will it take nature to reclaim our homes and office buildings, streets and subways, cities and ecosystems? What of our knowledge, art, and technology? Will anything human remain?
Weisman’s answers are both encouraging and depressing. Environmentalists – indeed, any person modicum of decency - will be happy to know that much of what we’ve done to the Earth, can be quickly undone. With the exception of those species we’ve already managed to eradicate, many endangered and threatened animal species do stand a fighting chance in a world without us. Many of our “greatest accomplishments,” from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Hoover Dam, will eventually crumble without humans around to maintain them. Forests, grasslands, and jungles will recover lost ground, though native species will be forced into competition with exotic ones introduced by humans. Global warming will slow and the ozone layer will regain molecular equilibrium. Our most enduring legacies will be our most unnatural creations: nuclear waste, plastics, and petrochemicals. Hopefully a world without us will evolve microbes to digest the more than one billion pounds of plastic we’ve dumped into the environment since the late ‘50s.
While Weisman’s optimism for Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (VHEMT), the prospect of a world without humans – including any indication that we ever even existed – is a humbling prospect. Without us, much of our knowledge will be lost to the earth. Then again, considering the ways in which we misused it, maybe this is not altogether a bad thing.
Whether it happens tomorrow or in 900 million years – when our Sun enters a red giant phase and begins to expand and contract, thus heating the Earth and evaporating our surface water – we will disappear. In this regard, we’re no better than the great Book Review: The World Without Us by Alan Weisman (2007) on easyVegan.info;
and Tomorrow is a beautiful day. on Amazon.com