THE WORLD WITHOUT US PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Mireille Juchau | 320 pages | 14 Jan 2016 | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | 9781408866511 | English | London, United Kingdom The World Without US (Video ) - IMDb Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Without them, we couldn't exist. It's that simple, and we can't afford to ignore them, anymore than I can afford to neglect my precious wife--nor the sweet mother Earth that births and holds us all. Without us, Earth will abide and endure; without her, however, we could not even be. That may seem far-fetched, but it's also a definition of prayer. Nothing remains the same. Who would ever have imagined that an organism would essentially turn itself inside out, pulling its shoulder girdle inside its ribs to form a carapace? The only real prediction you can make is that life will go on. And that it will be interesting. To enter it is to realize that most of us were bred to a pale copy of what nature intended. Seeing elders with trunks seven feet wide, or walking through stands of the tallest trees here—gigantic Norway spruce, shaggy as Methuselah— should seem as exotic as the Amazon or Antarctica to someone raised among the comparatively puny, second-growth woodlands found throughout the Northern Hemisphere. And, on some cellular level, how complete. Since the Milky Way is , light-years across and 1, light-years thick, and our solar system is near the middle of the galactic plane, this means in about AD the expanding sphere of radio waves bearing Lucy, Ricky, and their neighbors the Mertzes will emerge from the top and bottom of our galaxy and enter intergalactic space. Nor, absent the availability of a few thousand slaves, is it cheap, especially compared to another Roman innovation: concrete. All this plastic had appeared in barely more than 50 years. Would its chemical constituents or additives—for instance, colorants such as metallic copper— concentrate as they ascended the food chain, and alter evolution? The waning October afternoon is so hushed, he can hear snowflakes alight. Steaming and pawing, their huge black eyes glance just long enough for them to do what their own ancestors discovered they must upon encountering one of these deceptively frail bipeds: they flee. Once, following World War I, bison from zoos were brought here to replenish a species nearly extirpated by hungry soldiers. Now, a remnant of a Cold War threatens them again. He was also. He cannot risk being seen with Westerners. In fact, on both sides, the forest is actually growing, as peasant populations leave shrinking villages for cities. In this moist climate, birch and aspen quickly invade their fallow potato fields; within just two decades, farmland gives way to woodland. Under the canopy of the pioneering trees, oak, maple, linden, elm, and spruce regenerate. Given years without people, a true forest could return. The thought of rural Europe reverting one day to original forest is heartening. Excerpted from The World Without Us. Published in the United States by St. This work is protected under copyright laws and reproduction is strictly prohibited. Permission to reproduce the material in any manner or medium must be secured from the publisher. Home 1 Books 2. Add to Wishlist. Sign in to Purchase Instantly. Members save with free shipping everyday! See details. How would the planet reclaim its surface? What creatures would emerge from the dark and swarm? In his revelatory, bestselling account, Alan Weisman draws on every field of science to present an environmental assessment like no other, the most affecting portrait yet of humankind's place on this planet. A former contributing editor to the Los Angeles Times Magazine, he is a senior radio producer for Homelands Productions and teaches international journalism at the University of Arizona. Show More. Related Searches. Amexica: War Along the Borderline. With a New AfterwordIn , Ed Vulliamy traveled two thousand miles along the frontier from the Pacific coast to the Gulf of Mexico, and from Tijuana to Matamoros, a journey through a kaleidoscopic landscape of corruption and all-out civil war. View Product. A Better Angel. A bereaved Blood Papa: Rwanda's New Generation. The continuation of a groundbreaking study of the Rwandan genocide, and the story of the The continuation of a groundbreaking study of the Rwandan genocide, and the story of the survivor generationIn Rwanda from April to June , , Tutsis were slaughtered by their Hutu neighbors in the largest and swiftest genocide since World War The Book of Illusions. One night, he stumbles The Country Life. A New York Times Notable Book of the YearStella Benson answers a classified ad for an au pair, arriving in a tiny Sussex village that's home to a family that is slightly larger than life. Her hopes for the Maddens Dreyfus: Politics, Emotion, and the Scandal of the. Oxford historian Ruth Harris presents the scandal of the century Imperium: A Fiction of the South Seas. The World Without Us - Alan Weisman Interviews with academics quoted in the book include biologist E. Wilson on the Korean Demilitarized Zone, [10] archaeologist William Rathje on plastics in garbage, [11] forest botanist Oliver Rackham on vegetative cover across Britain, [12] anthropologist Arthur Demarest on the crash of Mayan civilization , [13] paleobiologist Douglas Erwin on evolution, [14] and philosopher Nick Bostrom on Transhumanism. The book is divided into 27 chapters, with a prelude , coda , bibliography and index. Each chapter deals with a new topic, such as the potential fates of plastics, petroleum infrastructure, nuclear facilities, and artworks. It is written from the point of view of a science journalist with explanations and testimonies backing his predictions. There is no unifying narrative, cohesive single-chapter overview, or thesis. Weisman's thought experiment pursues two themes: how nature would react to the disappearance of humans and what legacy humans would leave behind. He interviews biologist E. Wilson and visits with members of the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement at the Korean Demilitarized Zone where few humans have penetrated since He profiles soil samples from the past years and extrapolates concentrations of heavy metals and foreign substances into a future without industrial inputs. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and implications for climatic change are likewise examined. With material from previous articles, Weisman uses the fate of the Mayan civilization to illustrate the possibility of an entrenched society vanishing and how the natural environment quickly conceals evidence. Weisman finds that their structures crumble as weather does unrepaired damage and other life forms create new habitats. In Turkey, Weisman contrasts the construction practices of the rapidly growing Istanbul , as typical for large cities in less developed countries, with the underground cities in Cappadocia. Due to a large demand for housing in Istanbul much of it was developed quickly with whatever material was available and could collapse in a major earthquake or other natural disaster. Weisman uses New York City as a model to outline how an unmaintained urban area would deconstruct. He explains that sewers would clog, underground streams would flood subway corridors, and soils under roads would erode and cave in. From interviews with members of the Wildlife Conservation Society [24] and the New York Botanical Gardens [25] Weisman predicts that native vegetation would return, spreading from parks and out-surviving invasive species. Without humans to provide food and warmth, rats and cockroaches would die off. Weisman explains that a common house would begin to fall apart as water eventually leaks into the roof around the flashings, erodes the wood and rusts the nails, leading to sagging walls and eventual collapse. After years, all that would be left would be aluminum dishwasher parts, stainless steel cookware, and plastic handles. In space, the Pioneer plaques , the Voyager Golden Record , and radio waves would outlast the Earth itself. Breaking from the theme of the natural environment after humans, Weisman considers what could lead to the sudden, complete demise of humans without serious damage to the built and natural environment. That scenario, he concludes, is extremely unlikely. While he admits it is a "draconian measure", [29] he states, "The bottom line is that any species that overstretches its resource base suffers a population crash. Limiting our reproduction would be damn hard, but limiting our consumptive instincts may be even harder. The book was first published on July 10, , as a hardback in the United States by St. The paperback was released in July Pete Garceau designed the cover art for the American release, which one critic said was "a thick layer of sugar-coated sweetness in an effort to not alarm potential readers. But I'm harmless! No, really! Cover art for the international releases contrast the natural environment with a decaying built environment. Adam Grupper voiced the ten-hour-long, unabridged English language audiobook which was published by Macmillan Audio and BBC Audiobooks , and released simultaneously with the hardcover book. As the book was released Weisman launched his book tour with stops throughout the United States, Canada and overseas to Lisbon and Brussels. The writing style was positively received as being vivid and well-written, sometimes grim, but with appropriate language. Several critics found the lack of an anthropomorphic point of view hurt the book's relevance. She writes the "book [is] designed to help us find the how of survival by shaking us out of our passive dance with death". The book's environmental focus was also criticized by some. Christopher Orlet of The American Spectator wrote that it is "a prime example of the wrongheaded, extremist views of the Greens". Other critics hailed the environmental perspective.