Select language, opens an overlay

Comment

Oct 02, 2018isaachar rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
A blend of speculative fiction and environmental nonfiction, I really enjoyed The World Without Us. The research the Alan Weisman did with academics and field specialists on how people are currently changing the environment, and what would happen if humanity disappeared leaving all our structures and biological changes behind. This book is full of interesting tidbits about a post-human earth that most people wouldn't guess. For example, the fact that bronze artwork is likely the only artwork that will outlast humanity; or the fact that with few exceptions, many invasive plants and animals moved or domesticated by humanity would die out or be genetically subsumed by local species without human interference in just a few centuries. On the frightening side we learn (some of which we've long known) the terrible long term impact of things like industrialization's massive release of CO2, nuclear waste and industrial plastics having lasting impact on the planet for hundreds of thousands of years. Yet the author dulls this alarming knowledge by pointing out the unyielding power of nature, using examples like the forests and wildlife that appeared around the irradiated Chernobyl Red Forest. I can't believe I didn't notice this book when it was released more than a decade ago.