September, 2007 Host: Karen

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman

Summary

This is a fascinating account of what will happen to our world if all humans suddenly disappeared, whether it be the rapture or we are whisked away to a zoo in a foreign galaxy. The author interviewed dozens of experts in various fields, from paleontologists to astrophysicists to religious leaders to help him describe a world before humans (with mega fauna such as cow-sized sloths and beavers as big as a black bear) and what our world might be like after humans are gone. New York City’s subways would flood within days and the freeze-thaw expansion-contraction cycle would eventually bring down buildings and bridges. Cockroaches would die out as they would freeze without heated buildings. Rats would starve without human garbage and would become prey for raptors. Without the avicide committed by humans (along with the help of our feline friends), the bird population could increase by billions. Metallic pollutants would remain in our soil for thousands of year, chromium alone could last 70,000 years. Ceramics, bronze, underground cities in Turkey, the presidents carved on Mt. Rushmore, and plastics (until microbes evolved to eat plastics) could remain for million of years. Tires, being a single molecule, cannot be melted down and could become the catchers of rain water that provide mosquitoes a new habitat thousands of years from now. One potential scenario is that burning petrochemical plants could cause massive poisoning of the air which could cause a mini nuclear winter. The trade winds could disperse clouds throughout the world and the plants and animals that didn’t die might need to mutate in ways that could impact evolution. The earth does have an inherent ability to heal itself as is evident at Chernobyl. Our older bridges built after the turn of the century will last longer than newer ones. Older bridges were overbuilt and with steel - cars are like an ant on an elephant. Newer bridges are examples of low bids and stretched budgets as was the bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis which was built in 1967. Columns were built in the Mississippi River, the tarp around the columns kept moisture in and the newer concrete used got wet and flaked away. Our world would not survive as it does today without those in maintenance: those who pump water out of subways, painting bridges to keep them from rusting, or fixing a 70- year old steam pipe.

Discussion

-Only about a third of our group read this book. The author employed terminology of numerous disciplines (such as paleontology, biology, etc.) which made the book ‘dry’ and at times difficult to read. It was an intellectually humbling experience - if all the words not known by the average American were looked up in a dictionary while reading the book, it would have taken ten times longer to read it. Those of us who did finish the book felt as if we did learn a lot and that it was worth muddling through the parts that we didn’t understand, most of the book was fascinating. The author did make a feeble attempt at humanizing the book by describing a few physical characteristics of each scientist he interviewed.

-Currently, the plastics in our oceans that have been broken down into small pieces are being eaten by sea creatures and causing them permanent constipation. Even though plastics have only been around since World War 2, their negative impact on the environment is alarming. This underscores the importance of recycling - hopefully - the plastic bags used in grocery stores today will become a thing of the past.

-Some extreme ideas were also presented in the book. VHEMT (the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement) proposes that we all simply stop procreating and gently lay the human race to rest rather than face a massive die-off either by disease, starvation, or war. The Voyager Space Craft Golden Record containing diagrams of DNA, the solar system, nature, architecture, etc. will last more than a billion years and is now further than any other human-made object in space - it’s purpose being to land in the hands of an intelligent life form who could analyze it. In about 500 years, radio waves (which are permanent) carrying the voices of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo could be heard by intelligent life in intergalactic space. If that happens, they will also hear our laughter.