Book 2: World Without Us by Alan Weisman

 

I finished this book about 2 weeks ago.. but have been playing with the words trying to write a review.

The problem is, I am not a Science Person. I do not have any credentials to write about science type things. I can tell you that I like science, I am enamored of the things that are logical and make sense. I have plenty of friends who are science people, who keep me up to date, and fill me in, and give me information. But I cannot say I am a science person and be able to hold down my end of a science debate. 

That said. I want you to know I loved this book. 

Alan Weisman decided on doing a thought experiment and taking it to the farthest conclusion. What would happen to our planet if humans disappeared? (BTW he toys around with how we disappear, but basically we vanish without leaving decomposing bodies. That just makes things more difficult for him. I was fine with this. I realize that this bothered many people. He joked about the Rapture, UFOs whisking us away, and plenty of other ideas of us just vanishing. If you can get past this premise then I think you will like this book.) 

I like how Weisman travelled the world and looked at all the different facets that would affect our planet. He starts in the US in NYC. He talks about what would happen to our dwellings. He talks about how nature would grow back and take back the land from the concrete and asphalt we have laid. He talks about natural disasters and how that would affect the balance of nature. I am still thinking about what he wrote about Turkey and earthquakes. He talked about Africa and how that it is the last landmass that has megafauna. He discussed how megafauna disappeared all over the world when humans arrived in different land masses. He talked about plastics and how they will never, ever decompose. Even when they are the tiniest of particles, single celled bacteria will still eat plastic and not be able to digest it. He talked about birds and how they will repopulate the earth. He talked about our nuclear plants.. and how they will break down world-wide and create 400+ Chernobyls. But there is hope there too, as he has been to the Chernobyl site and seen animals and nature taking back the land. He talks about evolution and how it will effect what comes next. (He talks about evolution at the Chernobyl site and how the animals lives are shorter, but how they are creating new genes to combat the radiation there. Anyone who doesn’t believe in Evolution should look to Chernobyl to see it speed up in action.) 

He talked about the sea, the ozone layer, carbon emissions, ice ages, plants, animals, and what will be left of us in 10, 100, 1000, 100,000 yrs. (tiles and ceramics actually. That was interesting.) He talked about what will evolve if we disappear.. will primates make the genetic switch again and evolve to being future humans? Will there be a future visitor to see what we left behind? Will animals that have gone almost extinct be able to rally back without our meddling? 

And I found all of it fascinating. None of it was over my head. There were so many branches of science that eventually he would come around to one you might know, or about which you want to know more. It is a book that anyone who loves post-apocalyptic scenarios or science people would find fascinating. Plus nature lovers and tree huggers would have more ammunition for their rallying cries. Not everything we do is bad, but not everything we do helps the planet either.

Comments

[Lanea]

I've been meaning to read this. It sounds great. Thanks for the review.

[Bullwinkle]

Wow. I know someone who should read this ... wonder if he has.

Thanks for the review :)