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The World Without Us?
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Like the buildings are described in the book, The World Without Us but with people still living in the buildings. The moisture and the roots will get into the cracks in the concrete and tear the building's apart. This will be a shitshow.
If you're interested in this, you may like the book <em>The World Without Us</em> by Alan Weisman. It looks at how long signs of our civilization would endure if all humans disappeared overnight.
If the government disappeared tomorrow, we'd be enslaved by someone else before long, and would basically recreate a government eventually because the need would still be there.
As for the human race, you're right, the earth will continue just fine without us. There's even a book about this, "The World Without Us," about how nature would reclaim the earth if humans weren't here.
This is exactly the premise of the book "The World Without Us" https://www.amazon.com/World-Without-Us-Alan-Weisman/dp/0312427905
It talks about how long until various man made objects and systems fall into disrepair.
Maybe you can pick up a copy from a library, or order it online.
This book is useful for your scenario: The World Without Us. After 40 years, not much city infrastructure will be left usable. Especially since nature has had a chance to play with it for 40 years. Trees get pretty big in 40 years, and there was no one to pull out the saplings. Concrete buildings will still have most of their basic structure recognizable, albeit full of cracks and spalling all over. Wood buildings...might be recognizable as a hill of vegetation. The wood (even pressure treated wood) won't last for 40 years under those conditions. I suppose you might find occasional wood buildings in protected areas that might still be recognizable as a building. Expect leaks if it rains, though.
Was thinking that this is far enough into the future that former cities have been almost completely subsumed by nature - New growth, the rise and fall of sea levels, even geological processes. Think like, 20,000 years after some sort of apocalypse, an ice age come and gone. The most intact traces of the ancients are akin to like, Angkor Wat or Stonehenge, all but the most permanent construction completely erased, by the time the former civilization was wiped out perhaps there already wasn't much left to be preserved. The current population understands that there were grand civilizations at some point in the past and they know where these ruins are but that's about it. Maybe warnings against whatever ideology begat the ancient's downfall are preserved as whispers among the current population's elders, kept secret from those not wise enough to be trusted with the preventative knowledge.
I read The World Without Us, a pop science book speculating about the life of infrastructure if humans were to disappear, and was surprised by the convincing arguments regarding just how fast things would crumble to dust. So I went with that. Related, I was kind of let down by how 'preserved' the ancient structures in Horizon Zero Dawn seemed, considering how far in the future it's supposed to be. A lot of my game is inspired by Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and in that story most of the ancient's world has been washed away by completely new and alien ecosystems. But not wanting such a 'harsh' and dangerous world in my game I'm instead aiming for something positive and pastoral. The kind of imagery that cyclists like to look at while they're climbing a mountain pass :)
there are 2 books that explore this subject in detail. here is one http://www.amazon.com/World-Without-Us-Alan-Weisman/dp/0312427905/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454370607&sr=8-1&keywords=a+world+without+us
there is a video on youtube based on the book, nat geo or discovery channel i believe
"If human beings disappeared instantaneously from the Earth, what would happen? How would the planet reclaim its surface? What creatures would emerge from the dark and swarm? How would our treasured structures--our tunnels, our bridges, our homes, our monuments--survive the unmitigated impact of a planet without our intervention? 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."
Now this if a piece of Non-Fiction. I read it probably eight years ago and it was great. I would love to know what my fellow snakes thought about some of the ideas that are put forward in this book.
> And look how much damage we have done in the tiny amount of time we've been here.
What damage? What impact have humans had on Earth that will still be here a million years later? Here's an interesting book, if you are interested. It describes what would happen to a major human city if all humans suddenly vanished from the Earth.
> do you truly believe that it wouldn't be morally wrong for humans to try to make every species extinct - because species die out anyway?
But we are not actively trying to make every single species out there go extinct. And even if we were there is no way we would be able to do that. The fact that there are a handful of endangered species out there is not a sign of the end of the world. And this really isn't a question of what's morally right and wrong. Life doesn't care about right and wrong, it cares about survival.
You seem to be missing my point. I'm not saying that we have the right to go and exterminate every single thing on this planet. What I am saying is that nature is not frail and weak, and we are not as powerful as we like to believe. Look at all the natural disasters through out history. Earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, and fires. All of these have destroyed major cities in mere hours.If the Earth was some sort of huge sentient being out to destroy us we wouldn't be able to last a week on this planet.
And things like global warming is no big deal for nature. Dramatic climate changes happen all the time. It might cause a global mass extinction. But in the end the Earth will be fine. We won't be however. That's why we shouldn't be worried about saving the planet, we should be worried about saving ourselves.
To add something to the list that others might enjoy, The World Without Us is a fantastic thought experiment of what might happen if humans disappeared overnight. The book delves into a a brief history of human artifacts and how long they could withstand the test of time.
Have you guys ever read The World Without Us ? If I remember correctly, the Pyramids could last a million years, Mount Rushmore over 2 million. By far the oldest human structures.
The World Without Us is a decent read.
Check your local library for "The World Without Us" https://www.amazon.com/dp/0312427905/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_7WAZ8F78E1NVEY0HJ9EV it explores this exact question.
There’s an interesting easy read about that: The World Without Us https://www.amazon.com/dp/0312427905/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_XN5WWKR8B6DS6PXPRNVG
The World Without Us by Alan Weisman.
It really opened my eyes to the environmental damage individuals and societies create and their lasting effects. It taught me to be way more conscious about the waste I create.
No Logo by Naomi Klein.
A really great read that will help you understand how the marketing machine pushes you in all facets of your life. Also a great history of corporate America’s relationship with the consumer. It helped me make better decisions about my purchases and to always be wary about how I’m being influenced.
There's an excellent book about exactly this called The World Without Us.
The World Without US (Alan Weisman) is a fantastic read on this subject. The section on what would happen in New York City was amazing.
If you're more into reading than watching, "The World Without Us" is a FANTASTIC read. By Alan Weisman. Here's the Amazon link to the book.
https://www.amazon.com/World-Without-Us-Alan-Weisman/dp/0312427905
Not totally sure - maybe 100 years or less? That’s a total guess. this book might be ideal for you
it might be based on this book, which is also a good read if you're into that sort of thing.
https://www.amazon.com/World-Without-Us-Alan-Weisman/dp/0312427905
>Citation Needed.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0312427905/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_B-wszb16T2RPW
Check out the book by Alan Weisman, the world without us. Pretty good read. link
Here's a link to a great book on this subject: The World Without Us
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