People are obsessed with the idea of an apocalypse. We are curious to know what the world would be like if society as we know it ceased to exist. Even though we might want to learn about it, we would never quite want to experience a real apocalypse.
Scientists have used their curiosity about the end of the world to drive experiments that would determine what life on earth would look like without us. Click the link below to see what would happen to our planet if people completely disappeared.
Total Catastrophe
Scientists estimate that there would be total catastrophe within the first month of human disappearance. Fires from unmanaged oil refineries would set their surroundings ablaze. Floods would occur in underground railways because nobody would be maintaining drainage pipes. The essential structures that people lean on to keep modern society alive would be the first things to go south.
Slow Decay
The next phase of destruction that would occur without humanity present on earth would be a slow decay of the architectural structures that people have built. Homes would rot, buildings would collapse, and rodents would take over the ruins. Likewise, they predict erosion would completely demolish city skyscrapers within 200 winters because of the development of urban rivers.
New Biodiversity
Nature has a way of healing itself, even after being disrupted by human activity and pollution. Over the course of thousands of years, new ecosystems would develop from the rubble of manmade structures and create more biodiversity. Starvation and predators would essentially wipe out domesticated animal species, and animals adaptable to their environment would continue to multiply and thrive.
