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Without Us Website

So, noticing the decline in guild activity I thought I might pitch in to dry and jump start things with something new, book reviews. Feel free to tell me how you like my work and I might continue with this little experiment.

So yeah, The World Without Us, definite must read.
As the title implies the subject revolves around the idea of humans vanishing from this planet one day, in the blink of an eye, leaving behind everything on this planet just the way it was. It goes on to show what would happen over time starting from a few days up until the earth is gobbled up by our red giant sun.

Just what happens to our homes, our cities, our habitat...is mind-boggling. As nature begins to thrive in our absence, though in some cases there are some elements of nature that aren't so happy to have us gone, delicate balances that actually might have depended on our existence.

What really got me though was the true message of the story, after reading the book for a while you realize that it's not just about what things would be like without us, but it's also about just how much we've impacted the earth from the earliest times whenever we were a hunter-gather people to more modern times with our extensive use of plastics.

Seriously, all you bookworms out there, even those who aren't even avid readers but just enjoy a book every once in a while, this book is a wonderful choice.

So yeah, far from a professional job, but I thought I might give it a shot to stir things up. I hope you guys like it.

I'll have to look it up.

oh and about animals that need us or would not exist(in their modern form) without us. chickens, cows, horses, dogs, cats, pigs... cant think of more right now.

Well, aside from all the other animals listed, you might want to include roaches (depend on urban heat), lice, and many endangered species.

Sure, we made the species endangered in the first place, but in some cases we're the only reason they haven't been wiped out yet. The Kakapo wasn't mentioned in th book but makes for a great example of how vital we are to it's survival.

You see, the Kakapo (flightless parrot, near New Zealand) doesn't have any natural predators, so whenever the hundreds of thousands of Kakapos first saw the first human settlers and the creatures they brought with them they thought nothing of it.

We are the only reason the remaining 86 Kakapos are still alive, they all live on very isolated island that are a long swim away for any weasel thinking about eating them. If weasels do make it, they're dealt with swiftly.

Also, the horses would get along just fine, they can easily handle their own. Cows would be preyed upon by the local predators to the point where their numbers would be greatly reduced. Cats would actually be remarkably successful without us, preying on the many small animals across the world who have never seen such a small and swift predator before.

For the most part though I've learned that the Earth may in fact be better off without us, or at least us in the modern over-consumptive, environmentally apathetic sense. If more people tried, it still wouldn't be a perfect world, but it would be a lot better.

It definately sounds like an interesting book! There are so many that I'd like to read! I have The Diversity of Life back at home, but I forgot to bring it with me here to Spain...I'd also really like to read The Skeptical Environmentalist (or something like that...I really can't remember) because it's coming from a whole nother point of view...That the environment is actually getting better. It's about the point of view of an environmentalist who's critical almost to the extreme...I dunno. I just like to see different opinions so I know where people are coming from, whatever their thoughts. smile

I would definetly read it as well. 3nodding