Human beings are everywhere. With settlements on every continent, we can be found in the most isolated corners of Earth’s jungles, oceans, and tundras. Our impact is so profound, most scientists believe humanity has left a permanent mark on Earth’s geological record. So what would happen if suddenly, every human on Earth disappeared?
人类无处不在, 安居在每一片大陆, 我们存在于世界上最与世隔绝的丛林, 海洋, 和平原。 我们的影响如此之深刻, 以至于大多科学家们相信 人类在这个地球上 已留下了永久的痕迹。 那么如果所有人都突然消失了, 地球会怎么样呢?
With no one maintaining them, some of our creations backfire immediately. Hours after we disappear, oil refineries malfunction, producing month-long blazes at plants like the ones in western India, the southern United States, and South Korea. In underground rail systems like those in London, Moscow, and New York City, hundreds of drainage pumps are abandoned, flooding the tunnels in just three days. By the end of the first week, most emergency generators have shut down, and once the fires have gone out, the earth goes dark for the first time in centuries.
当没有人保养时, 我们的一些创造产物会立刻表现异常。 在我们消失后的几小时后, 炼油厂会瘫痪, 并会持续数月地对周围植物喷射火焰; 这种事会发生在印度西部, 美国南部, 还有南韩。 而比如伦敦, 莫斯科, 和纽约的地下铁路系统, 数以百计的排水设施将被废弃, 地下隧道将在三天内被洪水淹没。 一周之后,大多数应急发电机关机, 而当火也熄灭时, 地球将会在这几个世纪以来 第一次回到黑暗的怀抱。
After the first catastrophic month, changes come more gradually. Within 20 years, sidewalks have been torn apart by weeds and tree roots. Around this time, flooded tunnels erode the streets above into urban rivers. In temperate climates, the cycle of seasons freezes and thaws these waterways, cracking pavement and concrete foundations. Leaking pipes cause the same reaction in concrete buildings, and within 200 winters, most skyscrapers buckle and tumble down. In cities built in river deltas like Houston, these buildings eventually wash away completely - filling nearby tributaries with crushed concrete.
第一个多灾多难的月份过去之后, 变化会慢慢放缓。 20年之内,街道两侧会 布满植草以及树根。 这段时间, 被水淹没的隧道已经生锈, 而上面的街道变成的河流。 在温带气候的环境中, 随着季节循环, 这些水流时冻时化, 对周围街道和坚固设施产生冲击和破坏。 漏水的管道在大楼中也会造成同样的破坏, 大多数摩天大楼撑不过两百个冬天 就会崩裂倒塌。 在如休斯顿这种 依河流三角洲所建的城市里, 这些大楼将被完全冲走—— 致使周围的水域 布满破碎的钢筋水泥。
Rural and suburban areas decay more slowly, but in largely unsurprising ways. Leaks, mold, bug and rodent infestations - all the usual enemies of the homeowner- now go uncontested. Within 75 years, most houses' supporting beams have rotted and sagged, and the resulting collapsed heap is now home to local rodents and lizards.
郊区和乡村的衰败会缓慢一些, 但大多会以不出乎意料的方式进行。 漏水、霉菌、虫害 以及鼠害—— 那些家户常见的敌人—— 现在肆无忌惮了。 75年之内,大多数房屋的支撑横梁 会腐败、下陷, 而造成的坍塌就成了 当地的老鼠和蜥蜴的家园。
But in this post-human world, “local” has a new meaning. Our cities are full of imported plants, which now run wild across their adopted homes. Water hyacinth coat the waterways of Shanghai in a thick green carpet. Poisonous giant hogweeds overgrow the banks of London’s Thames River. Chinese Ailanthus trees burst through New York City streets. And as sunken skyscrapers add crumbled concrete to the new forest floor, the soil acidity plummets, potentially allowing new plant life to thrive.
但是在这个后人类的世界, “土生土长”有了全新的含义。 充满入侵植物的城市, 将被肆意生长的它们完全占领。 凤眼蓝(原产于南美)将在上海的水道上 形成一层厚厚的绿色覆盖。 有毒的大型大豕草(原产于高加索地区)将漫上 英国泰晤士河的河岸。 中国臭椿将占领纽约市的街道。 而且当塌陷的摩天大楼 给新的森林地表增加建筑残块时, 土地酸度会急剧上升, 给了新植物潜在的繁荣生长的机会。
This post-human biodiversity extends into the animal kingdom, as well. Animals follow the unchecked spread of native and non-native plants, venturing into new habitats with the help of our leftover bridges. In general, our infrastructure saves some animals and dooms others. Cockroaches continue to thrive in their native tropical habitats, but without our heating systems, their urban cousins likely freeze and die out in just two winters. And most domesticated animals are unable to survive without us – save for a handful of resourceful pigs, dogs, and feral housecats. Conversely, the reduced light pollution saves over a billion birds each year whose migrations were disrupted by blinking communication tower lights and high-tension wires. And mosquitos multiply endlessly in one of their favorite manmade nurseries – rubber tires, which last for almost a thousand years.
这种后人类的生态多样性同样也 延伸到了动物世界。 动物追随本地或引进植物无限制的扩张, 依靠我们留下的桥梁进入新的领地。 总的来说,我们的基建拯救了一些动物, 同时也毁灭了另一些动物。 蟑螂继续在它们原产的热带领域繁衍生息, 但是没有了我们的供暖系统, 它们在城市的种群将在两个冬天 受冻,最终消亡。 大多数家养动物在没有我们的情况下 将无法生存—— 仅剩下一些机智的猪、狗以及家猫。 相反,削减的光污染每年将拯救 超过十亿只候鸟, 因为以往它们的迁徙受到闪亮的信号灯 以及高压电线的阻碍。 蚊子将在它们最爱的 人造乐园之一—— 橡胶轮胎中继续 繁衍生息超过千年。
As fauna and flora flourish, Earth’s climate slowly recovers from millennia of human impact. Within 35,000 years, the plant cycle removes the last traces of lead left by the Industrial Revolution from Earth’s soil, and it may take up to 65,000 years beyond that for CO2 to return pre-human levels. But even after several million years, humanity’s legacy lives on. Carved in unyielding granite, America’s Mt. Rushmore survives for 7.2 million years. The chemical composition of our bronze sculptures keeps them recognizable for over 10 million. And buried deep underground, the remnants of cities built on floodplains have been preserved in time as a kind of technofossil.
随着动植物不断繁衍, 地球的气候将从人类数千年的 影响中逐渐恢复过来。 35000年以内, 植物循环将从土地中移除 工业革命留下的最后一丁点铅, 而二氧化碳量将至少需要65000年 才能回到人类文明前的水平。 但是即使数百万年之后, 人类的遗产依然存在。 它们被雕刻在坚硬的花岗岩中, 美国的拉什莫尔山将存在720万年。 我们的铜制雕塑因其化学成分 将留存超过1000万年的时间。 深埋在地下, 建造在涝原上的城市的废墟, 将以化石的形式被保留下来。
Eventually, these traces, too, will be wiped from the planet’s surface. Humanity hasn’t always been here, and we won’t be here forever. But by investigating the world without us, perhaps we can learn more about the world we live in now.
最终,这些遗迹也会被从地球表面抹去。 人类文明并非亘古永存, 我们也不会永久存在。 但是通过考察没有我们的世界, 也许我们可以更好地了解 我们现在赖以生存的世界。