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Start giftingThe World Without Us
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreBrought to you by Penguin.
"On the day after humans disappear, nature takes over and immediately begins cleaning house - or houses, that is. Cleans them right off the face of the earth. They all go."
What if mankind disappeared right now, forever ... what would happen to the Earth in a week, a year, a millennium? Could the planet's climate ever recover from human activity? How would nature destroy our huge cities and our myriad plastics? And what would our final legacy be?
Speaking to experts in fields as diverse as oil production and ecology, and visiting the places that have escaped recent human activity to discover how they have adapted to life without us, Alan Weisman paints an intriguing picture of the future of Earth. Exploring key concerns of our time, this absorbing thought experiment reveals a powerful - and surprising - picture of our planet's future.
© Alan Weisman 2008 (P) Penguin Audio 2021
Alan Weisman is an award-winning journalist, his reports have appeared in Harper's, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, Discover, and on NPR, among others. 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.
Reviews
Compelling ... jammed packed with fascinating "what ifs" A powerful vision of a possible future for the earth A fascinating nonfiction eco-thrillerDrawing from hundreds of interviews with engineers, scientists and archaeologists, it unfolds like a thriller
One of the grandest thought experiments of our time, a tremendous feat of imaginative reporting! Expand reviews