The World Without Us

(Paperback)

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Description

A FASCINATING GLIMPSE OF THE EARTH IF HUMANS VANISHED TODAY "On the day after humans disappear, nature takes over and immediately begins cleaning house - or houses, that is. Cleans them right off the face of the earth. They all go." What if mankind disappeared right now, forever ... what would happen to the Earth in a week, a year, a millennium Could the planet's climate ever recover from human activity How would nature destroy our huge cities and our myriad plastics And what would our final legacy be Speaking to experts in fields as diverse as oil production and ecology, and visiting the places that have escaped recent human activity to discover how they have adapted to life without us, Alan Weisman paints an intriguing picture of the future of Earth. Exploring key concerns of our time, this absorbing thought experiment reveals a powerful - and surprising - picture of our planet's future.

Reviews

Compelling ... jammed packed with fascinating "what ifs" * Guardian *
A powerful vision of a possible future for the earth * Sunday Times *
A fascinating nonfiction eco-thriller * The New York Times Book Review *

Drawing from hundreds of interviews with engineers, scientists and archaeologists, it unfolds like a thriller

-- Cal Flyn * Guardian Best Books about the Post-Human Earth *
One of the grandest thought experiments of our time, a tremendous feat of imaginative reporting! * Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Deep Economy *

Author Bio

Alan Weisman is a journalist and the author of numerous books. His writing has won several major awards and has appeared in The New York Times Magazine and the Los Angeles Times Magazine.