Monday, February 9, 2009

The World Without Us

What would happen if humans suddenly disappeared from earth? Based on the popular book by Alan Weisman, this is an interactive time line of The World Without Us. I don't know how much of this is scientifically feasible, but it's definitely interesting to imagine!

http://www.worldwithoutus.com/did_you_know.html

3 comments:

Jon said...

I think that's a pretty factual albeit not very thorough examination. Reminded me of the Discovery/History Channel show "Life after People" (the first part of which this links you to on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO3Vag0Ugu4) It is the exact same idea, maybe even based on the book just with sweeping visual images. I think the chances that we manage to completely wipe out all of human life is kind of preposterous, but that's not the point of the article. I guess overall it shows that humans don't have even as much impact on the world as a whole as we think and we may one day be forgotten.

Yael said...

I just bought this book a couple weeks ago but haven't gotten around to reading it just yet. I was just wondering if you had any strong opinions on it aside from being an interesting thought experiment. Basically, is it worth reading?

Mariko said...

Jon- I actually have seen "Life After People" and I thought the visuals were amazing.

Yael- I haven't read the book, I just happened to stumble upon that website. Sorry I can't offer any advice!