Scientific American has published an interview with Alan Weisman, who has written a book called The World Without Us. According to the editors at Sciam, the book is an extended thought-experiment, in which “Weisman does not specify exactly what finishes off Homo sapiens; instead he simply assumes the abrupt disappearance of our species and projects the sequence of events that would most likely occur in the years, decades and centuries afterward.”
According to Weisman, large parts of our physical infrastructure would begin to crumble almost immediately. Without street cleaners and road crews, our grand boulevards and superhighways would start to crack and buckle in a matter of months. Over the following decades many houses and office buildings would collapse, but some ordinary items would resist decay for an extraordinarily long time. Stainless-steel pots, for example, could last for millennia, especially if they were buried in the weed-covered mounds that used to be our kitchens. And certain common plastics might remain intact for hundreds of thousands of years; they would not break down until microbes evolved the ability to consume them.
Alan Weisman is a science writer and an an associate professor of journalism at the University of Arizona. The interview is fascinating.
What a fascinating interview. This gentleman would be a great dinner guest. He reinforces the concept that humans are fragile and so is their civilization. I wonder if he mentions the Mayan & Aztec civilizations and how their cities turned back to jungle? That seems to be a good example.
It amazed me, in reading just the interview (I haven’t read the book), how quickly New York City would begin to turn back to what it was before humans built a city there … in only days the subways flooded … in only decades the buildings collapsing.
I was also struck by his saying this:
I like the idea of humanity as part of the global ecosystem.
Interesting - I wander how we go out? Humans are so arrogant to think that they are in control, that everything we do is to better the world. Huh! It is only to better ourselves. The world will probably never be in perfect balance until we are totally gone.
Lisa, I believe Earth and its humans can find balance … but we’ll need to become aware that we and the planet are connected.
Deborah
Dear Lisa,
If the remarkable human intelligence we possess and the evidence of good science are effectively and cooperatively deployed now in behalf of preserving biodiversity, global ecosystems and the integrity of the Earth, then the human species will be assured of survival, I believe.
On the other hand, if we choose to follow blindly the current leaders among us who act as modern day heirs of Ozymandias by adamantly insisting upon the relentless, unbridled growth of human production, consumption and propagation activities now overspreading Earth, then I think the heretofore unthinkable prospect of human species extinction could become an actual possibility.
Certainly, I agree with Deborah that human beings can find balance with nature; however, the self-proclaimed masters of the universe among us will either become better educated to science soon and make behavior changes accordingly or be relieved of their leadership responsibilities by other human beings who demonstrate an appreciation of their feet of clay, an awareness of their biological limits, and an acceptance of Earth’s well-known physical limitations.
Sincerely,
Steve
Lisa,
I appreciate what you wrote. We humans have caused many changes that any unbiased observer would say have made the planet worse than it was. And our potential for destruction is almost limitless. Maybe it will even become limitless.
Nevertheless, I think your concept of “perfect balance” is something that has never been seen. Earth started as a cloud of dust, I guess, then became a molten mass, then a water-covered blob bombarded by meteors and comets, and after that, somehow, came life. I would say that every new lifeform that came onto this planet has changed its balance. If you go back in time over our four billion or so years, whole continents have moved, glaciers have advanced and retreated, vast oceans have disappeared, the atmosphere’s composition and its temperature have changed dramatically many times, and so on.
I don’t think that there ever was balance. In fact, I don’t think balance is even a good thing.
If you go back in time to some point long ago and say that the world was perfect here and should not have changed, when would that be? What would earth be like?
From comments I read, many people would choose a time just before humans arrived, since we are apparently the cancer of the universe. Then I submit that there would never have been anyone capable of beginning to understand and appreciate this great universe, or even care if the entire earth disappeared.
As far as I know, no other creature is capable of thinking, “What I am doing is wrong. I should stop, and encourage others also to stop. Or start doing something else.” I don’t think beauty means much to anyone but humans, or that any other animal has the capacity to predict the long-term effects of its actions. In fact, I’ll go on to say that I don’t think the universe would have any meaning at all if it were not for the human intelligence that can understand it and appreciate its awesomeness. I think the universe needs us. We are the only creatures capable of assuming a role of stewardship. And even if we mess it up, I think we’ve given it meaning, and just for that the universe is far better off with us than without us.
I do wish we were better, though.
Ray
Well said, Ray. Thank you.
I agree with Ray. He said so eloquently and succinctly exactly what needed to be said. Humans are part of the universe, not separate from it. But we are the only ones who consciously exploit natural resources selfishly. However, we have also evolved the capacity to convert science into technology that is beneficial instead of destructive and can completely establish ourselves as “stewards” and guardians of our earthly home instead of parasites.
My prayer is that we do it soon.
Keith Cantrell
Good comment from Ray. We are part of this universe and deserve the same rights as any other species. We may honestly be accused of ignorance in many instances, but we rarely deliberately (as a species) try to destroy our environment.
We are accused of causing the destruction of species while species have been coming and going throughout earth’s history. Now it is global warming, but what is this I hear about rising temperatures on Jupiter and Pluto? Could there be a common factor here?
Change is part of life, and not all changes are good from a limited perspective, but maybe the universe doesn’t care in the long run.
Leo Zuercher
That quote is from a Wikipedia article on what scientists are calling the coupled human environment system.
The idea is that scientists are finding more and more that human beings and Earth are connected. Will we need scientific evidence before we accept this idea? If so … bring it on!
Deborah