Post-Human World: The life isn’t limited to humans. The world and what is on it are not just gratitude provided for humans. Let’s see what will happen in this world after us.
On the first few days
Few hours after the human race disappears, all lights will go out because no one will supply fuel to the power plants. (The wind turbines need lubrication. Otherwise, they won’t work.) Nuclear plants will continue to work for a few years but they will be on power save mode since the supply is higher than demand. The only working power plant will be the Hoover power plant due to its unique structure. The underground tunnels will start to fill with water in 36 hours since there won’t be any humans to discharge the water.
10 days later
The food in the markets and fridges will start to rot. The animals we have at home will die if they cannot go outside. But going out does not mean surviving for them. Animals such as rats and mouse will start to loot our homes since there aren’t any humans.
6 months later
The city will start to have wild life. The wild animals who were forced to leave their habitats due to people will start to go back to their “home”.
1 year later
The plant population on highways, parks or asphalt (or anywhere with sunlight) will start to increase. Dandelions will start to grow from the cracks on the roads. Tree of heaven can also grow on building walls or any cracks. The buildings will start to get damaged as the tree of heaven population increases on building walls. Fires and floods will start due to natural causes. Therefore, anything manmade will start to burn down. This will lead to nitrogen emission and nitrogen-based plants will start to rule over.
5 years later
5 years later, the plants will cover everywhere. If you look down on how much the plants can cover, we have an example: Angkor Temple in Cambodia. This temple was abandoned in the 15th century and the temple walls are covered with random branches (actually, they are wrapped by them). Over time, trees will start to grow in the parks and grass areas where children used to play and this population will start to spread to the city and buildings.
20 years later
Actually, there is an example that shows what could have happened in a place where humans do not live for 20 years: Pripyat city in Ukraine. Pripyat is empty for 28 years as of 2014. This city is empty since the nuclear disaster in 1986. When you check Pripyat, you can see that the nature continues to live even after a nuclear disaster. The nature can recover even after such disaster. The buildings and walls will be damaged due to frozen water where freezing temperatures are experienced. The plants will grow deep in these cracks due to moisture accumulated in these areas.
25 years later
We must say that there won’t be any sign of humans in the rural area. The cities near the sea (like London, Amsterdam) will be flooded. The skyscraper windows will break and fall down due to expansion. The new owners of these empty and ruined skyscrapers will be pigeons and cockroaches. Since cockroaches feed with human waste, they will be sad we are gone. But this depression will only last for 1 minutes and they will continue to live by eating books and other things. Wolves who are about to go extinct because of humans will grow more as the humans no longer exist (in 1995, Yellowstone National Park only has a few dozen of wolves and the results: 1,500 wolves in 10 years. )
40 years later
As a result of the starvation of termites and mould, the houses in rural areas are now completely destroyed by the ground, the salts accumulating on the building walls are starting to push the stones that make up the wall. This concrete rotting will impact the dams and the dams constructed from compacted rock or soil will start to fall down. The massive water as a result of this damage will wipe out everything.
50 years later
The bridges will start to rust, collapse and disappear. The steel cables that carry the bridges and thousands of tons will start to rot first.
75 years later
The unused automobiles will rust at a speed depending on climate. The vehicles in dry climates will rust in a long time and the vehicles in moist climates will rust faster. (This is why dry cities are preferred to buy cars instead of moist cities.)
100 years later
The rusting bridges will start to collapse. The corrosion that started in the steel cables of the bridges will bring their end. The photo films can sustain up to 300 years (historical photos are preserved like this). But this time will decrease when there is no electricity and the cellulose acetate which is the main materials of the photo film will start to bend due to moisture. We won’t have anything left of the visual materials. What about books… Don’t mind that the Dead Sea Parchments in the Judean Dessert survived for 2000 years. They survived because of dry climate and protection from sunlight. This factor isn’t valid for our books.
150 years later
The skyscrapers and other structures captured by the plants will become the living space of birds, harvest mouse and cats. What about our dogs? They will mate with increasing population of wolves and become a more wild species. But none of the living beings would be as happy as the sea creatures when the humans are gone. Because the living spaces will no longer be a toilet. The fastest transformation and cleaning will happen in the sea. Since there won’t be anyone hunting them down, the population of our friends in the seas will increase. The corrosion that caused the bridges to fall down will turn the steel beams in the underground tunnels into dust 36 hours after the humans are wiped out.
200 years later
Even though it is highly durable, Eiffel Tower is not unbreakable. This structure is painted once every 6-7 years to be protected against corrosion. Since there won’t be anyone to do this job, the building will corrode and collapse.
300 years later
http://youtu.be/RxAmuqJVO9c
Space Needle Tower in Seattle which is built to bend with the wind will corrode and fall down by the wind. The soil under the Empire State will bend and the building will fall down. Sears Towers will have the same fate.
500 years later
500 years after the humans wipe out, none of the manmade modern concrete structures will last. The first form of concrete discovered by the Romans will continue to survive but the modern concrete with a more aqueous content will be destroyed.
1000 years later
The marks of almost all civilizations of the humanity will be gone. Everywhere will be covered in plants and nature will rule. There won’t be any concrete, iron or steel.
10000 years later
10,000 year later, concrete, iron, steel, paper and almost everything will rot. But don’t assume that all manmade things will disappear. 3 structures are predicted to last 10 thousand years later: The Great Wall of China, Giza pyramids and Rushmore Mountain. The Great Wall of China will continue to exist for a longer time. Giza pyramids will continue to be on the surface until covered by the sand. (Hoover Dam which is a miracle of engineering will be gone.) Rushmore mountain will stay here for a long time because it’s greatest enemy is the wind.
35000 years later
Things get a bit deeper after this. Since there is nothing manmade is left, the world is busy with compensating the damage caused by the humans. One of these damages is lead. Lead accumulated in the soil due to industrial waste will be cleared out of the soil 35 thousand years later.
100000 years later
CO2 level will go up to pre-human period. (This might take longer time.)
250000 years later
The plutonium levels in the plutonium bombs will fade away in the natural radiation of the world.
7 million 200 thousand years later
Rushmore Mountain will continue to exist unless an asteroid hits or a huge earthquake happens. Manmade hazardous chemical compounds such as PCB and dioxin will continue to exist.
10 million 200 thousand years later
The bronze statues will be recognisable after this time.
3 billion years later
Although the life won’t be in the form we image, it will continue.
4.5 billion years later
Half a million tons of Uranium-238 in the US will complete their half-life. The World started to heat up due to changes in the Sun. For at least one billion years, a microscopic life will continue to exist.
5 billion years later
The world and the other planets will burn and destroy due to expansion of the Sun.
Life After People
This is a documentary series broadcasted on History Channel.
H. G. Wells – Time Machine
The most important book of the most important author of the world (we like to exaggerate things). Undoubtedly, you will not read this book but consume it. When you reach the middle of this book, you will cry so that the book doesn’t get finished.
