We’ve raved before about the book World Without Us by Alan Weisman, which looks at what would happen if — for some reason — man simply disappeared from earth one day.
Within days, subways in New York City would flood, for instance; after about 75 years the major bridges in the world would start collapsing when they’re corroded by moisture and bird droppings with no maintenance.
Within a few years, the Panama Canal would crumble, but the face of Teddy Roosevelt, the man who ordered it built, would remain on Mount Rushmore uneroded for millions of years.
Weisman’s book included a look at Houston; floods and rampaging fires from refineries would be our lot.
The History Channel did a one-hour documentary last year on the book; now it’s doing a series with a much bigger budget for computer-generated special effects.
And one of the subjects is the Astrodome.
The above picture shows the Dome 20 years “after people” and while it’s dark, there’s a lot going on:
“The Houston Astrodome, no longer air conditioned, become enormous contained eco-systems which house bats, insects, fungi, and many other creatures,” notes the show’s website. (Apparently English skills also vanish as man leaves. Although technically, parrots will survive for a long time, so languages will not disappear completely.)
One hundred years after people, things aren’t so cheery (assuming bats and fungi are cheery to you): “The Astrodome collapses from one hundred years of corrosion and wear and
tear. The once lush sub-tropical ecosystem that had evolved inside is
now destroyed.”
The series began last Sunday (we DVR’d it but haven’t caught up to it yet, damn NHL playoffs), but it’s very likely worth checking out.
This article appears in Apr 23-29, 2009.