Alan Weisman - The World Without Us

survival of, 245–47, 247–48

textiles, 247

Cyprus, 92–93

archeological discoveries, 98–99, 101

developers and, 99–100

ethnic hatred, 92, 98

Greek/Turkish partition, 91–92, 92–93, 96, 99

Greek Republic of Cyprus, 96

history, 97–98, 98

trees of, 97–98

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, 96, 99

wildlife,97

without humans, 100–101

See also

Varosha

Dalai Lama,270

Dartmoor (U.K.), 166–67

Darwin, Charles, 28, 46, 55, 112, 200

Das lied von der Erde (Mahler), ix

DDT, 74, 129, 159, 196

Dead Sea, 42

Del Tufo, Jerry, 33–36

Demarest, Arthur, 224, 225, 228–29

Derinkuyu (Cappadocia, Turkey), 109, 110–11

Desert Laboratory, 55, 57, 65

desiccation, 238

Detwiler, Kate, 45–46

Dieldrin (pesticide), 74

DMZ (Demilitarized Zone, Korea), 183–85, 185–88

wildlife, 184–85, 186–87, 188–90, 191

dodo

extinction of, 191–92

dogs

survival of, 37

without humans, 235

Dos Pilas (Mayan site), 226, 227–28

Dow, 135

Doyle, Arthur Conan, 166

Drake, Sir Francis, 112

Drake, Frank, 249, 251, 252, 253–54

radio greeting to space, paranoia and, 253

Ducks Unlimited, 192–93

Dyke, George Vaughn, 153

E.C. (inspector), 138–40

earth

asteroids hitting, 230, 231

final days, 269

final days, religion and, 270, 270–71

Earth Day, 242

Earth First!, 271

earthquakes, 102–5

and construction standards, 103–5

in Mexico City, 103

in Turkey, 105

and subways, 105

Ebola virus, 239–40

Echevers, Modesto, 177–79, 180

eco-burialists, 237

ecosystems

Zen Buddhism and, 189–90

war and, 183

EDCs (endocrine-disrupting chemicals), 124

Ekati diamond mine (Canada), 219–20

Eland, 71–72

electromagnetic radio waves, 252–54

elephants, 79–81

fossils, 53–55

in Kenya, 72

Mastodons, 56

ivory poachers, 81

reintroduction of to North America, 81

woolly mammoths, 63, 83

embalming, 236–37

arsenic and, 236–37

formaldehyde, 237

End of the World, The (Leslie), 241

Erwin, Doug, 229–31, 231–32

evolution

Australopithecus africanus and, 48, 69, 101

Clovis people, 61–64, 58–60, 80

Cro-Magnons, 101

of humans, 44, 47–49, 68–69

European bison (Bison bonasus), 13

exfoliants

ecological damage from, 116–17

extinctions, 54–55, 63–67, 231–32

in Africa, 68

climate and, 61–62

disease and, 61, 239–40

domestic animals, survival of, 231–32

of humans.

See

human extinction

humans and (Blitzkrieg theory), 58–61, 241–43, 271–72

of megafauna, 62–63, 63–64

in North America, 55–58, 62–63, 63–64

Permian Extinction, 229–31

radioactivity and, 217

Farman, Joe, 204

Fermi, Enrico, 201, 209

Ferris, Timothy, 251

fertilizer

artificial, 151–53

chemical, 74

impact of, 160

organic, 153, 157

Rothamsted Research, 152–53, 153–57

See also

soil

Ford, Henry, 2

Foreman, Dave, 271

forests

Białowieża Puszcza (Poland/Belarus), 9–10, 10, 11, 12–13, 13–14, 21, 217

Chernobyl, 215

Harvard Forest (Petersham, MA), 148–49

Hemlock Forest (New York Botanical Garden), 28–30, 32

slash-and-burn, 12, 167–68, 227

Foster, David, 148–50

Freon

and the ozone, 204–5

Friedlander, Alan, 260–61, 263

funeral industry, 237–38

funerals

coffins and caskets, 237, 238

desiccation, 238

eco-burialists, 237

embalming, 236–37

Future Evolution (Ward), 232

Gaia hypothesis, 168, 271

Galápagos islands, 46, 200

Galveston, 135

without humans, 143–44

Galveston Island, 143–44

garbage. See

trash and garbage

garbage landfills, 37–38

Garbage Project, 119

Gaudí, Antoni, 19

George Washington Bridge (NJ/NY), 33, 35

Giant ground sloth (Megatherium americanum) , 62, 62

Gilbert, John Henry, 152–53, 162

Glenn, John, 16

global warming, 3, 41–42, 171

and coral reefs, 265

methane gas and, 220–21

See also

ozone

GMOs (genetically modified organisms), 160–62

Gombe National Park, 46, 49–52

Gombe Stream, 45–47, 49–52

Goodall, Jane, 49

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, 131, 132

Goodyear, Charles, 130–31

Göring, Hermann, 10

granite, durability of, 19

Great African Rift Valley, 42, 46

great auks, 192

Great Britain

Chunnel, 171–72, 172

Dartmoor, 166–67

first humans, 150

Garbage Project, 119

land bridge, 150–51, 166–67

Rothamsted Manor, 151, 151–53, 153–57, 158

Romnnsin, 150, 158

shoreline, rubbish along, 113–14

slash-and-burn, 12, 167–68

without humans, 165–66, 166–67, 171–72, 172

Great Wall of China, 173–75

Greek Republic of Cyprus, 96

Green Revolution, 164–65

Guam, 200

Gulf of Mexico, 142, 160

salt dome storage caverns, 133

Gülyaz, Murat Ertugrul, 108–9

Gura waterfall (Kenya), 71

H.M.S. Beagle , 112

Hagia Sophia (Istanbul, Turkey), 102–5

Hanford Nuclear Reservation (WA), 206

Hardie planks

deterioration of, 17

Hardy, Alistair, 114–15

Harpenden (U.K.), 150–51

Rothamsted Manor, 151, 151–53, 153–57

Harvard Forest (Petersham, MA), 148–49

Hawaii, 200

Hawkins, David, 223

Haynes, Vance, 63–64

HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons), 204–5

heavy metals, 221

and plant life, 29, 31, 158, 159

Hemlock Forest (New York Botanical Garden), 28–30, 32

Bronx squirrels and, 29

High Line (elevated railroad bed, NYC), 27

high-tension power lines

danger to birds, 193–94

Hilty, Steve, 198–200

Himmelstein, Paul, 247–48

Hopi people, 120

horse latitudes (North Pacific Subtropical Gyre), 121, 122, 123–24

horses (Equus)

devolving, Przewalski’s, 190

reintroduction of in America, 71

striped, 50, 71

survival of, 232

houses

without humans, 15–18, 18, 19–20

Houston

fate without humans, 143

geology, 134–35

petroleum/petrochemicals industry and, 132

Ship Channel, 134, 135

storage tanks, 133–34

Hudson, Henry, 22, 33

Huff, Bill, 179–80, 181

Hughes, James, 244

human extinction, 3–4

biological attack, 239

from disease, 61, 239–40, 242

from infertility, 240–41

religion and, 270, 270–71

VHEMT (Voluntary Human Extinction Movement), 241–43

human race

Australopithecus africanus and, 48, 69, 101

Clovis people, 61–64, 58–60, 80

Cro-Magnons and, 101

evolution of, 44, 47–49, 68–69

lice and bacteria, dependancy on, 235–36

population explosion, 271–72

robots and computers as replacements, 244

Hussein, Saddam, 139

Hwa Gye Sah Temple (Korea), 189

Ice Ages, 39–40

and animal extinctions, 61–62

and plant life, 61–62

Ik-Tae, Jin, 183

Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant (NY), 36

insect infestation

and plant life, 29, 31, 32

insects

insecticides, 74

mosquitoes, 129–30

International Energy Agency, 216

International Wildlife Museum (AZ), 66