Alan Weisman - The World Without Us

iron

deterioration of, 18

in steel, 246

ISP, 135, 140

Istanbul (Turkey)

Blue Mosque, 103

construction standards in, 103–5

Hagia Sophia, 102–5

subway, 105

See also

Turkey

Jackson, Jeremy, 258–59, 261–62, 265

Jagiełło, Waładysław, 10, 12

statue of, 21–22, 247

Jefferson, Thomas, 53–55, 181

Jericho, 101, 106

Johnston Atoll

as nuclear test range, 266–67

Jong-Hak, Park, 183

Jong-il, Dear Leader Kim, 187

Jordan River, 42

Kazulka, Heorhi, 14

Kenya

Aberdares moors, 71–73

cut flowers exports, 73–74

Gura waterfall, 71

Kikuyu people, 71, 72–73, 73–74

Lake Turkana, 70

Mau Mau Rebellion, 72–73

Mzima Springs, 77

Mombasa, 77

Mount Kenya, 72

Tsavo, 76–78

Olorgesailie depression, 68–71

without humans, 74–74

Kenya Professional Safari Guide Association, 84

Khufu pyramid, 172–73

Kierkegaard, Søren Aabye, 251

Kikuyu people (Kenya), 71, 72–73, 73–74

Mau Mau Rebellion, 72–73

Kingman Reef, 255–58, 259, 260, 261–62, 263–64

Kiribati, 258

Kiritimati (Christmas) (Line Islands), 259–61

Klem, Daniel, 196–97

Knight, Les, 241–43, 244

Koonyi, Kasi, 83–84, 85–86

Korea

CCZ/DMZ, 183–85, 185–88, 188–90, 191

division of, 184

Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, 183–85, 185–88

Ksiazek, Thomas, 239–40

kudzu, 274

Kurzweil, Ray, 243–44

Kyung-Won, Kim, 183, 188–89

Lake Alajuela (Panama), 177

Lake Baikal (Siberia), 42

Lake Gatun (Panama), 176, 177

dam, 179–80

Lake Tanganyika (East Africa), 42–43, 51

Gombe Stream, 45–47

Lake Turkana (Kenya/Ethiopia), 70

landfills

newspapers in, 119–20

tires, 130–31

See also

plastic particles; trash and garbage

Lapland longspur, 193–94

Lapta (Cyprus), 98

Lawes, John Bennet, 151, 151–53, 154, 162

lead

in the ecosystem, 158–59

Leakey, Louis, 44, 49, 58, 68

Leakey, Mary, 44, 68

Lehmann, Johannes, 167–68

Lenni Lenape people, 23, 32, 33

Leslie, John, 241

Lewis, Meriwether, 54

Li-Tai-Po, ix

Library of Alexandria (Egypt), 248

lice

dependency on humans, 235

Life Magazine , 119

Lincoln, Abraham, 181

Line Islands, 258–59, 264–65

as munition dump, 258–59

lions

and slavery, 77

Litoptern (Macrauchenia patachonicd) , 59, 59

Lomberg, Jon, 248–51, 252, 269

London, 150

without humans, 165–66

Los Alamos National Laboratory (NM), 206–7

Lovelock, James, 168, 271

Maasai people, 43, 79–81

and AIDS, 85–86

and cattle, 82–83, 84–86

McElroy, C. J., 66

McGrath, Steven, 157–59, 159

Magic Flute, The (Mozart), 251

Mahler, Gustav, ix

Maine

cultivation, effects of, 146–47

stone walls, 146

Mannahatta Project, 22–24, 30, 32–33

Marathon, 135

Marburg virus, 239–40

Marconi, Guglielmo, 252, 254

Martin, Paul, 55–58, 58–59, 61, 63–64, 65–67, 80–81, 271

Mastodons, 56

Mathews, Mike, 236–37

Mau Mau Rebellion, 72–73

Mayan civilization, 223–24, 226, 227–28, 228–29

agriculture, 227

archaeological excavations, 224, 227

burials, 227

collapse of, 224–25, 228

cruelty of, 226

vegetation overrunning, 225, 226

wealth, 227

Mehringer, Peter, 65

Mellaart, James, 106

meltdowns, 212–13, 213–14, 214–16

mercury

plants reengineered to absorb, 159

Meso-Americans

European diseases and, 61

Mesozoic Era, 230–31

metal

wiring and plumbing, remains of, 38

moa

extinction of, 63, 191

moa-nalo

extinction of, 192

Molina, Mario, 204

monkeys

red-tailed and blue monkeys, 45–46

See also

primates

Monte Verde (Chile), 60

Moore, Charles, 121, 123, 123–24, 124, 125

Moser, Edda, 251

mosquitoes

flourishing without humans, 129–30

Mount Hasan Dağ (Turkey), 106–7

Mount Kenya (Kanya), 72, 73

Mount Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), 79

Mount Rushmore (SD), 181–82

mountains

erosion of, 120–21

mountaintop removal for coal mining, 221–23, 222

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 251

Münir, Metin, 96–97

Murray Springs (AZ), 63–64

museums and museum vaults

durability of, 37

musk oxen, 220

Mzima Springs (Kenya), 77

Nairobi National Park, 78–82

National Museums of Kenya, 68

National Wildlife Refuges

contaminated sites as, 207, 267

Nature Conservancy, The, 140–41, 258

Navajo people, 120

New England

agriculture in, 146–47

cultivation, effects of, 146–47, 149–50

Erie Canal and, 147

forests, 148–50

forests, increase of, 147

Native Americans and, 147–48

stonewalls, 146

New Scientist Magazine , 165

New York Botanical Garden

Hemlock Forest, 28–30, 32

New York City

animal life, 36–37

biodiversity, 27–28, 32

bridges, 33–36

flooding of, 41–42

garbage landfills, 37–38

Hemlock Forest, 28–30

High Line (elevated railroad bed), 27

Lenni Lenape people, 23, 32, 33

Mannahatta Project, 22–24, 30, 32–33

MTA subway system, 105

natural state, 28–30, 33

next Ice Age and, 37–38, 39

original geography, 22–23

pavement, 26–27

plant and tree resurgence, 27, 27–28

skyscrapers, collapse of, 28

Statue of Liberty, 37, 246–47

statue of Waładysław Jagiełło, 21–22, 247

subway system, 24–26

underground water, 22–23

wiring and plumbing, remains of, 38

without humans, 25–26, 26–27, 27–28, 35–36, 36–38, 41–42

See also

North America; South America

Newhouse, Fred, 137–38, 141–42

newspapers

ecological damage from, 119–20

Nicosia (Cyprus), 91

Nogales (Sonora, Mexico), 65

North America

biological interchange, 180–81

Carnegie Desert Botanical Laboratory (Arizona), 55

drought, 168

extinctions, 56–58, 62–63, 63–64

fossils, 53–55, 62–63

placental mammals, 180

reintroduction of elephants, 81

reintroduction of horses, 71

reintroduction of top predators, 271

See also

New England; New York City; South America

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

Novozybkov region (Russia) fallout from Chernobyl, 216, 218

nuclear facilities

accidents at, 208

contamination from, 215–16, 216

durability of, 210, 212

meltdowns, 212–13, 213–14, 214–16

reactors, 36, 209–11, 212, 212–13, 213, 213–14, 214–16

waste, storage of, 210, 212

nuclear fission

atomic bombs, effects of, 201–2

natural decay, 202–3

See also

plutonium; radiation; uranium nuclear weapons

Hanford Nuclear Reservation (WA) Hiroshima/Nagasaki, 201–2, 206–7

Johnston Atoll, 266–67

Rocky Flats (CO), 207–8, 208–9

and surplus U-238, 205–6

ocean-conveyor cooling, 41, 171, 166–67

oceans

coral reefs, 255–58, 258–59, 259–61, 261–62, 262–63, 263–64, 264–65

fertilizers and, 156

Great Britain’s shoreline, rubbish along, 113–14

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

plastic particles pollution of, 113–14, 114–16, 116–18, 118–19, 119–20, 120–23, 123–24, 124–25, 125–26, 126–28