If We All Vanished Tomorrow

What would *really* happen if all humans disappeared? The Earth grins at the thought

Friday, October 20, 2006

What would happen, really? How would the planet respond if all bipeds disappeared tomorrow?

You can probably guess. Almost immediately, the planet would shudder, shift, align itself anew. Immediately, all endangered species would begin to recover. Light pollution (that is, pollution caused by industrial light) would soon vanish, followed by a great reduction in air pollution, methane gasses, chemicals in fresh water. Soon, all bridges and dams would collapse, roads would become overgrown, buildings would decay, corals would regenerate, most organic landfill would decay and vanish. And that's just the beginning.

In other words, as the fascinating/depressing cover story in the recent issue of New Scientist points out (along with this nifty graphic from the Times U.K.), the Earth would quickly begin to recover mightily from the deep disease that is human existence. What's more, the planet would, by every estimate, quickly become a whole lot healthier, more balanced, back in harmony with itself.

Translation: We have wreaked just a horrific amount of damage and done just about exactly zero good for the place while we've been here....

Source: If We All Vanished Tomorrow
Author: By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist

Link: Humans Living Far Beyond Planet's Means, WWF Says
Link: Nineteen eighty-four is the year when the Earth reached the limits of its capacity to provide for us. Since then we have been using the Earth’s natural resources at a rate that increasingly exceeds what it is able to replenish.


Other EVANA-articles about this topic:
UAE, U.S. Top List of Pressures on Nature, WWF Finds (en)

Humans have begun 'eating the planet' (en)

World: Study: vegan diets healthier for planet, people than meat diets (en)

Eating Your Way to a Smaller 'Ecological Footprint' (en)

'Das Experiment': Die Planung der Schoepfer fuer die Erde und alle Bewohner ist fertig (de)