In a world without people
Discussion
just read quite an interesting article (below) which imagined NYC without any people:
https://www.popsci.com/environment/abandoned-nyc-w...
I do wonder how cities in the tropics would fare (I'd imagine a lot worse, look at Angkor Watt for example, albeit over a longer timescale). Would London do better since our winter aren't as savage as those on the Eastern Seaboard how would cities like Moscow or Helsinki look?
https://www.popsci.com/environment/abandoned-nyc-w...
I do wonder how cities in the tropics would fare (I'd imagine a lot worse, look at Angkor Watt for example, albeit over a longer timescale). Would London do better since our winter aren't as savage as those on the Eastern Seaboard how would cities like Moscow or Helsinki look?
I love stuff like this, and really enjoyed the Life After People TV show.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_After_People
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_After_People
DodgyGeezer said:
just read quite an interesting article (below) which imagined NYC without any people:
https://www.popsci.com/environment/abandoned-nyc-w...
I do wonder how cities in the tropics would fare (I'd imagine a lot worse, look at Angkor Watt for example, albeit over a longer timescale). Would London do better since our winter aren't as savage as those on the Eastern Seaboard how would cities like Moscow or Helsinki look?
No London wouldn’t do much better. Nature would engulf it pretty quickly. I imagine the underground’s would be interesting. Lovely place for wildlife to live.https://www.popsci.com/environment/abandoned-nyc-w...
I do wonder how cities in the tropics would fare (I'd imagine a lot worse, look at Angkor Watt for example, albeit over a longer timescale). Would London do better since our winter aren't as savage as those on the Eastern Seaboard how would cities like Moscow or Helsinki look?
I suspect it would take longer before these buildings disintegrated. Look at places like wollaton hall and many national trust properties. They’re 4-500 yrs old and often are still standing strong. I know Americans aren’t used to old buildings so can’t imagine anything of that age, but there are plenty in the U.K.
It would be interesting to wander around though. I love shows/games like the last of us that try to visualise what it would be like.
It would be interesting to wander around though. I love shows/games like the last of us that try to visualise what it would be like.
Depends on the climate and the construction but there are enough real examples around the world to show how it would go.
Can think of a few over the US/Russia/Australia/etc demonstrating how quickly an unmaintained urban environment falls apart.
NYC has a fairly harsh climate and a lot of the construction isn't robust so things falling apart wouldn't take long.
Things that survive from antiquity were either maintained or massive, so you aren't going to get a lot of nice ruins, just a few, plus lots of piles of broken concrete, bricks, glass and rust.
There's a few things where people might have quietly subscribed to the ideas of Ruinenwert but not too many from the past few decades.
Can think of a few over the US/Russia/Australia/etc demonstrating how quickly an unmaintained urban environment falls apart.
NYC has a fairly harsh climate and a lot of the construction isn't robust so things falling apart wouldn't take long.
Things that survive from antiquity were either maintained or massive, so you aren't going to get a lot of nice ruins, just a few, plus lots of piles of broken concrete, bricks, glass and rust.
There's a few things where people might have quietly subscribed to the ideas of Ruinenwert but not too many from the past few decades.
JoshSm said:
Depends on the climate and the construction but there are enough real examples around the world to show how it would go.
Can think of a few over the US/Russia/Australia/etc demonstrating how quickly an unmaintained urban environment falls apart.
I guess the obvious one is Chernobyl where even meals were left half eaten etc - not sure if the accident hindered nature's initial progress but...Can think of a few over the US/Russia/Australia/etc demonstrating how quickly an unmaintained urban environment falls apart.
JoshSm said:
There's a few things where people might have quietly subscribed to the ideas of Ruinenwert but not too many from the past few decades.
I had to google that... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruin_value#The image of the Bank of England is intriguing (and arguably reflects the state of the country already).
A fair opportunity to ruminate on There Will Come Soft Rains by Sara Teasdale.
"There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum-trees in tremulous white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone."
"There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum-trees in tremulous white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone."
https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/how-huma...
-Lots here.
http://worldwithoutus.com/about_book.html
-published in 2007.
-Lots here.
http://worldwithoutus.com/about_book.html
-published in 2007.
Edited by The_Doc on Saturday 7th June 21:47
Wheel Turned Out said:
A fair opportunity to ruminate on There Will Come Soft Rains by Sara Teasdale.
"There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum-trees in tremulous white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone."
You could write that about any species."There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum-trees in tremulous white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone."
As mankind is having such an effect on the planet - we hear about it every day - then removing him/it/them would have to have an equal effect. If what they tell us is right, no more manmade CO2 emissions = global cooling! The frogs and robins will freeze to death...
Simpo Two said:
Wheel Turned Out said:
A fair opportunity to ruminate on There Will Come Soft Rains by Sara Teasdale.
"There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum-trees in tremulous white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone."
You could write that about any species."There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum-trees in tremulous white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone."
As mankind is having such an effect on the planet - we hear about it every day - then removing him/it/them would have to have an equal effect. If what they tell us is right, no more manmade CO2 emissions = global cooling! The frogs and robins will freeze to death...
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