If We (humanity) Disappeared.

[Airbender55]

Let's paint a picture with words, how would evolution progress had humans just disappeared off the face of the planet right now?

What would happen to landmarks built to last, but are no match to the elements and time?

What would happen to earth had humanity just disappeared right now?

Evidence Evidence Evidence! If you believe something will happen to earth after our vanishing, explain why it will happen and what will come of it over the ages, if you believe the world will end after a period of time, explain how it would have come about, remember, humanity is not there to cause the end of the world.

Let the chaos ensue.

Do not be an idiot, and don't fight.

 

[Sven_Tu]

I've seen some stuff about this. Here's what I remember:
-Domesticated animals, especially certain breeds of dogs, may have a hard time fending for themselves at first. Probably starving to death or something.
-Most man-made structures require upkeep. Things would fail or shut down. After a few years, buildings and bridges would collapse. Not sure about stuff like nuclear reactors though, I'd assume there's some kind of shutdown if no one's around.
-After a few centuries or so, everything would have collapsed, become buried, and covered in vegetation, making it appear as if we were never here.
-Life marches on without us.

 

[Alatar Silvercl]

What a great subject! Many domestic animals would need to eat. Many trapped indoors would succumb to cannibalism. Those outdoors or capable of escape would know how to hunt already, as it is an instinct of theirs.
Power and water would last for around 8-12 hours until plants shutdown. Reactors of a nuclear nature would go into meltdown, their surrounding areas becoming irradiated for roughly 75 years.
Books and other written works would become colonies for molds and lichens, and in 50 years all written texts would be lost. Stone would decay leading to the loss of statues over the course of several centuries, many would succumb to structural damage beforehand and collapse

 

[FCCarnilord]

Besides the obvious of everything failing, the environment would change quite a bit.
More plants surviving because of less factories means more chance of oxygen, insects would grow because their body is grown in portion to the amount of gravity around them.
Domestic animals would have a very little chance for survival, they will have to re-adapt to being a wild animal to survive.
nights will be darker, and within time, because of less light coming from earth the remaining animals will be able to see larger amounts of stars.
Cows will still be hugely polluting the environment due to the amount of methane their bodies produce, but we wouldn't be there to know that.
Genetically altered animals that are possibly let into wild may die instantly or over power all, because of their alteration in genetic coding.
Some species will still go extinct because we were trying to save them, but with us gone they have very little chance.

Tardigrade (I think that's how it is spelled) Will continue to live through everything nature throws at them because of how bad@$$ they are.

 

[Blazara]

The world will be a significantly prettier / better place ;p.

There would be a lovely descendance into traditional Darwinian principles in which our custom-bred pocket sized pooches will die very quickly.

There are no animals that are known to have been genetically modified to a great extent, at least within the public eye. The most we've really done in terms of GM on animals is altering genes so that a certain protein, chemical or enzyme is produced within milk for example. That's not a huge survival boost.

Nuclear reactors, especially the older ones, have very little in the way of "No one's here" procedures; I'm not sure any reactors in the world do for that matter, as it's not something that people tend to consider on a daily basis. We're self-indulging creatures; if we're not here, why does anything matter eh? ;p For anyone that still doesn't catch my meaning; we're talking major meltdown, unless enough control rods have already been deployed, in which case the fuel rods will just decay naturally and with very little effect. However; one unattended burst in a pipe or a fault with the control systems (likely caused by the loss of electrical power, unless of course, the designers were intelligent and powered the reactor station from the reactor itself instead of from the national grid) and KABLOOEY. A lovely Chernobyl scale area of ionising wonderfulness.

Endangered animals would probably rise in population @Toxiclord , the largest cause of decline in the numbers of endangered animals is human intervention. In terms of marine life it's things like the construction of new fuel lines or drilling platforms, boats in general (Some creatures get confused, scared etc), hunting, overfishing and general human arse-holery.

In terms of land based animals; again, declining numbers are almost entirely caused by human hunting if we're considering the African ecosystems. At the end of the day, the death of land animals in large numbers is all due to hunting or the loss of habitat. It's in no way due to these animals being poorly evolved; I mean, they're here for god sake, and is more due to the fact that we can't leave anything alone once we see something we wouldn't mind having.

With us gone, animals will be free to naturally develop and climb / fall in numbers (I'm looking at you cows) until an equilibrium is reached globally. That's how nature works; gentle balances that are settled upon over time.

It may come across in this post; but I'm not a fan of humans in general, I'm very much of the opinion that we're the most monstrous creature to ever touch this planet. All hail global style anarchy.

 

[FCCarnilord]

There are no animals that are known to have been genetically modified to a great extent, at least within the public eye. The most we've really done in terms of GM on animals is altering genes so that a certain protein, chemical or enzyme is produced within milk for example. That's not a huge survival boost.

Click to shrink...

I recently saw in the paper an article about a trout/salmon or whichever marine fish species it is, but it had it's genes modified so it would grow up to 2.5~ times larger than the normal species, so I pondered a bit about if they would actually manage accidental damage compared to their smaller brothers and sisters.

 

[Mecharic]

If humans vanished right now... I wouldn't be able to play Minecraft!

As for what would happen to the world, "Life After People", a documentory by The History Channel, describes it in an amazing way... I need to watch the series again!

Playlist (14 hours total video): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8115CA6F1D3A4807

That said, I disagreed with some of it - I think that animals we've domesticated would be able to, in many cases, adapt to the world. Chihuahua may be small but they are fast and that small size means they would be good at hunting rabbits, even getting underground to attack them. Other creatures, like domesticated dogs that are larger, will likely evolve into a VERY colorful melting pot of species that have everything from dalmatian spots to panther black fur.

I also think that corn and other 'doomed' plants will do much better than is predicted. This is because many creatures will eat MOST, but not ALL of the seeds on corn, allowing it to continue as is and become a vital part of the ecosystem. Lastly, I think that zoo animals will have a higher-than predicted survival rate. People need to give life more credit, after all it created humans - why not just b*tchslap all our predictions with raw overwhelming awesome right?

 

[Ender]

Yep, same thing as the above post. Watch "Life after People." Simple as that.

 

[Lizmun]

(Ok, for HOW we disappeared, I'm going to assume that everyone died a bloody and gruesome death on the spot)

First of all, in the first few days, there would be chaos. Because we all died, any airplanes that were in the sky at the time would either keep flying untill they ran out of fuel and dropped out of the sky, or they would do a nose dive and explode. But either way, all planes would crash. And cars that happened to be traveling fast and not stuck in traffic would swerve out of control and likely crash, causing explosions and fire. These fires would end up ravaging crops, dry fields, forests, cities, towns, you name it. The fires would most likely rage on for a few days, probably weeks for areas with high wind and drought, as there would be nobody to put them out. After the great burning shave happened, any surviving wildlife in burred forests, or zoos, would be forced to migrate. A few years later, forests and fields would start to flourish again, due to the large amount of carbon dioxide the fires caused and factory pollution caused. Also, all the dead humans lying around would eventually decay and our body's would be put back into the soil, our blood would soak the soil with iron and other minerals. Oil rigs would rust, and probably end up breaking and causing massive spills, turning parts of the ocean black. Our planet would end up going black at night, no lights or power would work after a time. Jungles would spread and re grow due to the high carbon levels, again. And yeah, after this, I got nothing.

Life always finds a way to reclaim what belongs to it, in this case, that would be planet earth

 

[Sully]

There is literally a show all about this.

Pretty sure it was narrarted by Morgan Freeman.

It might not.

It probably was because Morgan Freeman.

Also plants.

 

[Xanderab]

 

[Airbender55]

@Xanderab , it would probably look like that a few centuries down the track, a few thousand? Lady Liberties iron skeleton would have been rusted away by the elements, the granite plinth would probably remain there for thousands of years, as for the stone pathway, it would be broken by plants in a desperate attempt to get some sunshine, the rust resistant paint on the train would peel away, exposing a completely rustable interior, thus returning the things back to the earth.

Jus sayin'

 

[tbtazz321]

If humans disappeared, animals would overpopulate, but domestic animals have no one to take care of them. They go back into the wild and survived. And with no food, most would become carnivourous, eating other animals, leading them to extinction, unless some other animals eat them. Most animals wouldnt survive, and due to over population, herbivourous animals would eat more vegetation than usual, and most plants and moss etc etc, wouldnt be all over bridges and factories and other buildings.

 

[schmemeking]

If Humanity vanished then my sister would fly back to Pluto and report what happened.

In an attempt to be a bit more serious, some animals will probably be toast for the next couple hundred years until the lesser-off ecosystems that were destroyed by deforestation/GCC/oil slicks thrive once again.

Landmarks will probably, but very, very slowly, erode over time, but either way, it's inevitable. The removal of Humanity will probably make it faster for some landmarks that are maintained regularly, but they will stay for a long time no matter what.

Overall, everything will go back to it's old stuff-y stuff that it did before Humans came.

 

[Sven_Tu]

If humans disappeared, animals would overpopulate, but domestic animals have no one to take care of them. They go back into the wild and survived. And with no food, most would become carnivourous, eating other animals, leading them to extinction, unless some other animals eat them. Most animals wouldnt survive, and due to over population, herbivourous animals would eat more vegetation than usual, and most plants and moss etc etc, wouldnt be all over bridges and factories and other buildings.

Click to shrink...

I disagree. Animals may once more increase in number once humans are gone, but there wouldn't be an overpopulation. Vegetation tends to spread faster as well and not all plants are equally edible by all herbivores.

 

[Mecharic]

Just want to say, whatever species replaces us will probably look at the fossil records and be all like "Oh, so those are the f*ckers who took all the oil and coal and killed a lot of stuff. We need to destroy that mountain with their faces on it..."

 

[Maple]

All of these look like backgrounds from The Last of Us or I am Legend, but that's completely irrelevant.

To get back on the subject. The abandoned houses would slowly rot away mosses and vines slowly overtaking them. The crooked stalled out cars and vehicles in the streets slowly rusting away. Every famous landmark slowly decomposing and being consumed with growths. I think this would be quite beautiful actually, but like many have brought up nuclear reactors and other possibly harmful human creations could cause quite a bit of damage if there are no humans to take care of these facilities/objects. The question I have for you guys is that Mecharic brought up a valid point in a species overtaking us, but which species would it be?

 

[keylan118]

Let's paint a picture with words, how would evolution progress had humans just disappeared off the face of the planet right now?

What would happen to landmarks built to last, but are no match to the elements and time?

What would happen to earth had humanity just disappeared right now?

Evidence Evidence Evidence! If you believe something will happen to earth after our vanishing, explain why it will happen and what will come of it over the ages, if you believe the world will end after a period of time, explain how it would have come about, remember, humanity is not there to cause the end of the world.

Let the chaos ensue.

Do not be an idiot, and don't fight.

Click to shrink...

IF we suddenly disappeared life would eventually become sentient again, or die out. Probably, the next sentient species would be another ape or monkey. If not them, than another already smart creature.

 

[Mecharic]

We've gone extinct, so what species will necro our cities like Keylan necro'd this thread?

My vote: insects. This guys vote: spiders:

 

[Airbender55]

When I say vanished from earth, I mean vanished from earth, clothes and all.

 

[keylan118]

We've gone extinct, so what species will necro our cities like Keylan necro'd this thread?

My vote: insects. This guys vote: spiders:
View attachment 32113

Click to shrink...

Dates and Times mean nothing to me.

 

[Luxor Ignotis]

Answer: Tokyo Jungle, look it up, great game.

 

[tbtazz321]

I really dont understand, why does plantation just rise and rise and numbers and why would plants meltdown or shutdown? Wouldn't they just keep going?

 

[Sven_Tu]

I really dont understand, why does plantation just rise and rise and numbers and why would plants meltdown or shutdown? Wouldn't they just keep going?

Click to shrink...

The simple answer would be because humanity disappears.

Power plants aren't fully automatic, they need people around to function. They need someone to constantly supply fuel, make sure things are working properly, fix any problems, maintain old/broken parts, and so on. With no humans around, there would be no one to do so.

Plants would grow everywhere because that's natural. They're not really rising in number, they're just returning to the normal state of things before people started building cities and covering everywhere with concrete and metal. The only reason plants aren't growing everywhere in the streets now is because people are preventing it from happening. No one's gonna let a tree grow in the middle of the bridge or let moss and vines cover roads and railways.

 

[Rhuyne]

I bet Chibis will take over when humanity disappears >
@WildRoze

 

[A'mika]

For one thing, some of the bad things we've done to the world and been trying to reverse would remain, quite likely permanently.
I'm going to Spoiler each category separately to prevent this from taking up too much space.
Animals

Spoiler

The invasive species animals we've introduced to certain areas would remain there, therefore the ecosystems would still be unstable.
All the domesticated animals would be stuck in whatever protective measures humans put them in, therefore farm animals would be behind fences. Pets would probably escape. Some animals that were fenced in might starve, whereas others might smash through the flimsy electric fences when the electrics crashed.
Eventually, something would evolve to a dominant level (and hopefully not be the equivalent of a corrupt politician like us humans), and I bet nature is going to play a prank on everyone guessing by making it something no one would guess and/or not even resembling its original form.

Plants

Spoiler

Invasive plants would remain in their invaded areas, as stated above.
Grass and weeds would rule all the front lawns for quite a while, until they got any sort of competition or a nasty winter. With no one to cut the grass, a lot of grass would be long, provided it didn't get strangled by weeds.
Plants would grow all over the place, and on all of the nice decaying wood and decaying dead bodies of whatever creatures died due to starvation or other causes, because no one's going to clean away that cow body lying in the middle of the road. Fungus and mold would also probably colonise dead stuff. Course, much of it would probably be eaten by other animals.
At the gardening stores, those bags of nice topsoil are going to eventually release their content, which might cause plants to be growing on the floor.
The plants and fungi would expedite decay in buildings.

Structures

Spoiler

The structures would gradually fall down. Easily decayable stuff and/or unstable stuff would be the first to go. Earthquakes and floods would hasten the process, and nothing would be rebuilt, which means that you could tell where that natural disaster hit until all its buildings were gone.
Metal would rust, and I have no idea what would happen to glass. Maybe it would all shatter eventually.
10,000 years later: plastic would be broken down. No more plastic! (correct me if I've got the wrong length of time).
Probably, 'that mountain with their faces on it' (referenced in an earlier post) would erode and start looking really weird.
Tall structures might be the first to fall over.

There we go! That's what I think.
PS: forgot which way the spoilers went and needed to correct.

 

[Kerfloosh]

If we disappeared off of the face of the Earth, landmarks will crumble and decay, nature retaking control. (The game Tokyo Jungle is a good example.) Perhaps a race will become as intelligent as humans (probably any hominids, perhaps even dolphins or pigs, they're pretty intelligent creatures) maybe salvaging any surviving human technologies that happened to survive the challenge of time.

 

[ilublo]

The earth would settle it's extermination bill and move on.

 

[ilublo]

IF we suddenly disappeared life would eventually become sentient again, or die out. Probably, the next sentient species would be another ape or monkey. If not them, than another already smart creature.

Click to shrink...

Um... i can't think of an animal that doesn't meet the qualifications for a modern understanding of sentience. If we're regressing to an 18th century understanding of sentience, i'd argue that this might not be the case. But while we are waxing anthropocentrically, there's no data to indicate that homo sapiens' "brand" of "sentience" would be "adopted" by another species. Sometimes we can be so caught up in ourselves, that we forget that there are species that may be MORE adaptive than humans. I don't need to remind you that we are not at the apex of some race to perfect adaptability. That's not what evolution is. The world is far to diverse - it is only our arrogance that allows us to pretend we, as a species, sit atop some throne. It's probably that arrogance that will be our undoing.

 

[CanteringCodfish]

Think about invasive species. I'll use an example. Here in Vermont, we have a problem with Japanese knotweed. It is basically flimsy bamboo like stalks that pop up all over, and choke out anything and everything around them, because they can grow to be really tall, very fast. If humanity vanished, nearly every riverbank in all of Vermont and surrounding states would be covered with knotweed. They would shade out every plant in the area, then keep growing in until there are no plants near the rivers except for preexisting trees and other large plants. After those died, there would be nothing but knotweed for miles. Now think of everywhere else in the world, with their own invasive plant/animal problems. Without human intervention, the entire ecosystem of the earth would almost completely change.