The World Without Us

The premise of The World Without Us is the title. Naturally, the author has thought and researched the topic more than the reader, but I was not prepared for what a massively depressing onslaught this would be. It is, in fact, more depressing than anything else I’ve read in a long time. First, the world is not without us, and it won’t be soon. Second, several of the author’s scenarios, e.g. What will happen to the huge petrochemical plants in Houston when nobody is there to maintain them, and what will be the consequences for the life that we haven’t already destroyed?, show that it is too late to do anything about so many of our machinations. Third, it’s easy to go off hiking, enjoy the fresh air, and pretend that all is well show more or at least reversible, but this book is unrelenting, and we are reminded that something like the nuclear waste that is currently stored in sheds behind cyclone fences on the grounds of the reactors wherever they might be, cannot have a happy ending whether we are here or not. Professor Weisman does try to put a very mild happy spin on things at the end, after all, the sun will become a red giant star and fry this rock in time, and from the point of view of the universe what does it all matter anyway? Oy. show less

Protagonist: the human race
Setting: the planet Earth
Speculative Fiction laced with tons of fascinating science

First Line: One June morning in 2004, Ana María Santi sat against a post beneath a large palm-thatched canopy, frowning as she watched a gathering of her people in Mazáraka, their hamlet on the Río Conambu, an Ecuadoran tributary of the upper Amazon.

After reading one of his articles, a woman asked Alan Weisman what would happen if every single human being vanished from the face of the earth all at the same time. After much research, his answer became The World Without Us. While people in internet book groups I belong to were posting their annual Tops and Bottoms reads of 2007 before the year officially ended, I resisted. I show more knew I was in the midst of something very special. I was right. The World Without Us became one of my top three reads of the year.

Weisman takes us to various places around the globe in search of the answer to this question: New York City, which would quickly topple once humans were no longer around to operate the pumps that keep water out of the subway system; Chernobyl, where wildlife quickly returned after the meltdown; to sections of New England that have had two centuries to recover from farming; to the vast ancient underground cities of Turkey; the petrochemical plants of Texas; North America before any humans stepped foot on it; and to a place that I don't care to drive by--the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant outside of Phoenix, Arizona. In each place he stops, Weisman talks to the experts in an effort to find out what has happened, what will happen, and what will probably happen due to the actions (or non-action) of humans.

The journey is spellbinding, equal parts amazement, joy, sorrow and dread. Weisman has done what few authors can--make me change the way I think and the way I see this beautiful planet that we all share.

From his acknowledgements: "All of us humans have myriad other species to thank. Without them, *we* couldn't exist. It's that simple, and we can't afford to ignore them, any more than I can afford to neglect my precious wife--nor the sweet mother Earth that births and holds us all. Without us, Earth will abide and endure; without her, however, we could not even be." show less

As a fan of post-apocalyptic science fiction, I found The World Without Us tremendously enjoyable. If, like me, you’ve ever wondered what the world would really look like if all of humanity were somehow decimated tomorrow, this careful and detailed book will tell you. It is sometimes hopeful, as when he is describing the wildlife that flourishes in the Korean Demilitarized Zone, or how nature is breaking through the cracks of New York City, and sometimes utterly bleak, as when he explores the environmental legacy of our dependency on plastics, or what will happen as nuclear waste dumps and oil refining plants age and shift.

The book’s message is ultimately, though guardedly, optimistic: the author makes a solid argument for our show more ability to coexist in peace with nature, if we are willing to make sweeping enough changes. If we are not, the book tells us, we will pass away, and the earth, as always, will abide. show less

It started out fun, as I imagined those pesky vines in my backyard that are already threatening to take over the house. Even without water, in a megadrought. And how the wildlife would move into the cities and the buildings would crumble over time.

But then it got real scary.

The Texas petrochemical patch near Houston -- a patch I've traveled through as a child, on our way to Galveston beach -- requires constant maintenance by humans to control the heat and the chemicals. Without maintenance or shut-downs, all the tanks and towers could detonate at once, or at least spew major leaks till the whole region and the Gulf of Mexico are contaminated with a toxic brew.

Great!

Then there are the 441 nuclear power plants. Without maintenance... show more well, think Chernobyl.

Sigh...

Still, the book shows an interesting hypothetical scenario with both good outcomes and not so good. So... more damn things to worry about. But, okay, I'm game. Bring them on!

Highly recommended! show less

A fascinating thought experiment about what would happen to the world if humans suddenly disappeared. Some rather dated language now but generally a really interesting and genuinely provocative read.

This is at once a fascinating and jarring read. Weisman describes in vivid detail how fragile our created world is, and how much damage we've done to the supporting world around us.

However, I suspect that one of the reviewers was huffing glue when s/he provided the quote, "This book is the very DNA of hope." This is true if you, perhaps, if you are a member of any species other than home sapiens or any of the species that directly depend on us for survival.

I hardly subscribe to the fanatical and maddening belief that the world is here for the express purpose of our use and consumption. But the reminder that life on earth will survive even if we do not (something no semi-literate person should need a book to be reminded of) is hardly show more hope inspiring. If we are not here to appreciate the beauty of a fully forested valley or the tune of birds, what does that beauty matter?

A great follow-up after reading . show less

An inspired and thoughtful premise ("What would happen to humankind's infrastructure and legacy if we were to all vanish tomorrow") makes for an inspired and well researched, if somewhat uneven, book. While occasionally heavy-handed, Alan Weisman's look at our toxic bequest has rightfully shamed me into a serious accounting of my own disposable-plastics use - not a bad accomplishment for a light summer read.