The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
The World Without Us is a massive thought experiment where he deep dives into the question of what would happen to the planet if humans were to suddenly disappear. While much of the outcomes predicted could be based solely on clever intuition and raw speculation, Weisman plunges headfirst into the scientific world, resulting in the pages brimming with evidence-based predictions through a combination of research and interviews with a cast of enthusiastic experts across an array of fields.
What would happen to our cities -- roads, buildings, subway systems, and more? What would happen to our waste, be it regular ol' garbage floating in the sea or nuclear junk we've stuffed away in vats hoping they'll never see the light of day? What would happen to our nature preserves -- would they proliferate and take over? What would happen to the beautiful art we would leave behind?
It explores the lasting impact of humankind's greatest feats of engineering. What is the impact of splitting the Americas in half with the Panama Canal? What impact does a Mayan pyramid have on the jungle in which it resides? Or the rivers held back by massive dams?
While fundamentally a prediction of a theoretical future, the book is just as much a history book. It looks back at what came before us -- in land, sea, and air -- and what has happened as a result of our existence up to this point, contextualizing a world that could be based on a world that was.
At its core this is a book about the planet and its inhabitants. Humans sure, but the flora and fauna spread throughout -- from the largest trees to the slimiest of algae, from the massive bush elephants roaming sub-Saharan Africa to the mites on your eyelashes.
I had a lot of feelings while reading this book, and I experienced emotional whiplash more times than I can count. On one hand, it is a soul-crushing account of the devastation that humans can wreak on the world we call home. On the other I am shown a planet built on resilience, where humans are a mere blip in history, destined for a future of being forgotten.
Throughout I was introduced to an endless variety of plants, animals, and environments I had never heard of. Working with all of these things is the aforementioned cast of characters interviewed throughout the book. Seeing insights into the people not only keeping nature at bay for our sake, but seeking to understand our world and make it so that we humans can enjoy it for as long as possible, and that it is set up for success long after we're gone, I found to be incredibly motivational.
At the end I expected to be left with a sense of sadness at the brutality of humanity, but as I closed the book for the last time I found myself hopeful, with a deeper understanding of the perseverance of our world and its insistence on thriving, regardless of who at the time inhabits it.