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00:00What would happen if every human being on Earth simply disappeared?
00:10This isn't the story of how people vanish.
00:13It's the story of what happens to the world left behind.
00:22Now, in life after people, water gave life to the world.
00:27But it can also destroy.
00:32Which mighty towers are most vulnerable to destruction?
00:38What strange aquarium dweller can survive a whole year without people?
00:44And what flooded city gives its former residents the best chance of being preserved as fossils millions of years into the future?
00:52Welcome to the future of our once overcrowded world and to cities where the future has already visited.
01:02Welcome to Earth. Population zero.
01:0580% of Earth is covered by water.
01:23Humans built their civilizations on the remaining 20% by harnessing its power.
01:28Lakes and oceans were harvested for food.
01:33Rivers were used for irrigation and electricity.
01:37But in a life after people, the power of water will flow unchecked, tearing down the civilization it helped create.
01:46One day after people.
01:59At a height of 510 miles, weather satellites soar over the North and South Poles, orbiting the Earth 14 times a day.
02:07Once, 6 billion people depended on the data they provided on sea level, rainfall, and humidity.
02:20Now, although their solar panels will continue to power them for decades,
02:24the satellites send their data to ground stations that are empty.
02:28There is no one in Moscow to be warned of a sudden cold front.
02:35No one to be told if this is one of the 25 days a year when rain will fall in Dubai.
02:42And no one will be warned if another hurricane threatens the levies of New Orleans.
02:47The city's French Quarter dates back to 1718,
02:56when the government of Louis XV built a trade and military outpost along the Mississippi River.
03:02Under the American flag, the quarter became famous for its music, revelry, and Mardi Gras celebrations.
03:13Now, the party's over.
03:15Forever.
03:17And not just for humans, either.
03:20Many of the animals left behind will not last long.
03:25The death count begins at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas,
03:29just a stone's throw from the Mississippi River.
03:34The aquarium can support over 12,000 marine animals in a million gallons of fresh and salt water.
03:41In the first few days after people, some fish will starve.
03:45But the real problem is the sudden lack of electricity to the aquarium pumps.
03:53During the time of humans, 50 pumps kept the fish healthy by adding oxygen to the water
03:58and removing waste 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
04:02After humans disappeared from our aquarium, the emergency generator would run for about a week,
04:09and after that, run out of fuel, and there would be no one here to fix it.
04:13While aquarium fish in New Orleans have a few days left to live, fish in another coastal city are already rotting.
04:25Two days after people, 2,000 miles away on the banks of the saltwater Puget Sound,
04:38Seattle is becoming infested with scavengers.
04:41At the Pike Place Fish Market, first opened in 1907,
04:49fishmongers sold their hauls from the waters of the world.
04:53But unless fish are frozen, they won't stay fresh for more than 48 hours.
04:59As they decompose, fish release an organic compound called trimethylamine.
05:03The stench brings hungry creatures running.
05:11Without the fishmongers there keeping their product refrigerated and so forth,
05:16you're going to have rapid decomposition.
05:17Things are going to rot.
05:19You'd have coyotes, raccoons, and things coming in,
05:21because they do come to the outskirts of the downtown,
05:23and it wouldn't take them long to find Pike Place Market.
05:33Three days after people.
05:36Almost 4,000 oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico are still braving the waves
05:41and still pumping one and a half million barrels of oil a day.
05:48If people were to disappear, platforms could operate under their own power for a few days,
05:52because that's the amount of fuel that they carry.
05:55And then the emergency generators would kick in for another few days.
05:57But probably what would happen is that the pipelines would all fill up,
06:03because there'd be no more consumption.
06:06And so there'd be a cascading effect of shutdowns.
06:1234,000 miles of undersea pipes will soon clog up with undelivered oil.
06:18Fortunately, watertight valves prevent the oil from leaking into the ocean,
06:22at least for now.
06:24Back on shore, billions of man's former companions are about to become extinct.
06:32If all the people should disappear tomorrow,
06:34there are three species of insects that probably would care,
06:36and those are the lice.
06:38We have the head lice, the body lice, and the crab lice
06:41are all endemic to the human species.
06:45Some 3 million years ago, these lice began evolving along with humans.
06:50Now, their DNA constrains them to specific areas of the body
06:54and a restricted diet, human blood.
06:58If we disappear, they have nowhere else to go.
07:03Without human blood, the lice die within two days.
07:08Creatures that coexisted with humans from prehistory
07:10join their former hosts in oblivion.
07:13It's one week after people.
07:23In the vast freshwater bayous outside the city of New Orleans,
07:27one and a half million alligators barely notice the absence of people.
07:33But a few have found some unexpected treats.
07:37Escaped pets looking for a cool drink.
07:39Alligators have the strongest bite of any animal.
07:49In the time of humans, alligators infested America's southern cities,
07:53including Houston and Miami,
07:55injuring hundreds of people and killing more than a dozen.
08:00Now, their thirsty dogs are in danger.
08:03Alligators catch them at the waterhole.
08:09So if you go for the drink, then all of a sudden, surprise.
08:19At the Audubon Aquarium,
08:20the emergency generator has shut down after a week.
08:26Jellyfish are the first to die,
08:28unable to keep themselves afloat.
08:30They depend on water currents,
08:33so when the artificial currents stop,
08:35the bloodless, nerveless creatures sink to the bottom.
08:39Water pressure pushes through their gelatinous bodies,
08:41and they disintegrate.
08:47In the time of humans,
08:48the aquarium's one million gallons of water
08:51was cleaned and recirculated
08:52through a hundred miles of plastic piping.
08:55The waste was not dumped, but eaten
08:58by trillions of bacteria called nitrosomonas
09:01placed in the pipes by the aquarium staff.
09:07The ammonia-gobbling nitrosomonas
09:09produced their own waste,
09:10which was consumed by another bacteria,
09:13nitrobacter.
09:14The system worked perfectly
09:16as long as it was operated by trained staff.
09:19Without people here,
09:21it would all slow down and then stop.
09:27In the confines of an aquarium,
09:30the ammonia-filled waste crowds the tank
09:32as the oxygen is depleted.
09:34When the fish breathe,
09:36the ammonia poisons their systems.
09:39From shark to snapper,
09:41they gasp for air
09:42and haemorrhage internally.
09:45It's precisely what happened
09:47the last time the aquarium was left unstarved.
09:52In 2005,
09:54Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans,
09:57flooding neighbourhoods
09:58and knocking out power around the city,
10:01including the aquarium.
10:04Standing on ground several feet above sea level,
10:07the aquarium wasn't flooded.
10:09But three days later,
10:10police evacuated the support team
10:12of nine people left behind
10:13to care for the marine life.
10:16Then,
10:17the emergency generator shut down
10:20and the recirculating pumps stopped.
10:25The fish used up the tank's oxygen
10:27and suffocated
10:29or choked on their own waste.
10:34Four days after the power shut down,
10:37the aquarium staff returned.
10:38You could smell
10:40the big Gulf of Mexico exhibit
10:41before you even got in the building.
10:43When we went on top of the exhibit,
10:45with our flashlights,
10:46you could just see
10:46very large sharks floating,
10:49redfish floating.
10:50The whole surface
10:51was covered with dead animals.
10:54The flashlights
10:55couldn't penetrate
10:56more than an inch
10:57into the warm water,
10:58blackened with decomposing fish.
11:01Then,
11:02something broke the surface.
11:03We saw that.
11:04And I think we're all like,
11:07what the hell was that?
11:10It was a tarpon,
11:12a saltwater game fish
11:13that can grow up to six feet
11:15or longer,
11:16a fish that can breach the surface
11:17to gulp air.
11:19The tarpon's dual ability
11:21saved it
11:21when all its water-breathing companions died.
11:24In fact,
11:27all the air-breathers survived,
11:29including the two river otters,
11:32the penguins,
11:34and the rare
11:35white blue-eyed crocodile.
11:39Now,
11:40with people gone forever,
11:42the aquarium generator
11:43loses power in a week.
11:46As the fish die,
11:47the waste-eating bacteria
11:48have an ammonia banquet,
11:50and the disaster of Katrina
11:52is repeated.
11:53But this time,
11:55there will be
11:55no last-minute rescues.
12:02A year from now,
12:04only one animal will survive.
12:06Which one?
12:08We shall see.
12:09It's one year after people,
12:19and buildings along the world's
12:20almost 182,000 miles of coastline
12:23are being infiltrated
12:25by an invisible enemy.
12:27Humidity.
12:31In Dubai,
12:32humidity is witheringly high,
12:35between 80 and 90 percent,
12:37posing a particular threat
12:38to the Burj Al Arab Hotel.
12:44Rising up on an artificial island
12:46in the Persian Gulf,
12:48the 1,050-foot sail-shaped hotel
12:50was a symbol of the country
12:52when it was completed in 1999.
12:55But like all the high-tech towers in Dubai,
12:58the design that attracted tourists
13:00is a magnet for destruction.
13:02Now that people are gone...
13:05The Dubai skyscrapers
13:06are very, very tall.
13:07A great many mechanical devices
13:10keep them running properly.
13:12A lot of air conditioning,
13:14a lot of mechanical temperature controls.
13:17That area is also very humid,
13:21and it's right by a body of salt water.
13:23So the climate and the very nature
13:26of those kinds of structures
13:27is working against them.
13:32In the time of humans,
13:34the air conditioners in the Burj
13:36battled both heat and humidity.
13:41Now, hot salt air seeps in,
13:44and mold, bacteria, and yeast
13:47eat away the linens and walls,
13:49while the 9,000 tons of steel
13:53begin to corrode.
13:59I would say the salt water and air
14:01could probably enhance corrosion
14:03by a factor of two or three.
14:06If humans suddenly disappeared from Dubai,
14:09those buildings would start deteriorating
14:12literally within a year or two.
14:13In New Orleans,
14:20the aquarium has suffered
14:21little outside deterioration
14:23after a year.
14:24But inside,
14:26there is only one survivor.
14:32The white alligator.
14:36Alligators can survive for a year
14:38without food.
14:39They conserve energy
14:41in extreme situations
14:42by reducing their heart rate
14:44to one or two beats per minute.
14:46But after a year,
14:49there will be few heartbeats left.
14:56New Orleans past and present
14:59point the way to the city's future.
15:02Elsewhere,
15:03waters rise
15:04in cities from Seattle
15:06to Moscow,
15:07and disaster lurks
15:09in places
15:10as seemingly harmless
15:11as a rain cloud
15:12or a pile of leaves.
15:26Four years after people.
15:29Some cities have fallen victim to floods.
15:33While water's initial attack
15:34can be brutal,
15:35the real devastation
15:37often comes after
15:38a long-term siege.
15:41With no one to repair the damage,
15:44homes succumb to decay
15:47while the foundations
15:48of buildings slowly erode.
15:57It's a future
15:58that's already visited New Orleans.
16:00On the 28th of August, 2005,
16:05the stormwaters of Hurricane Katrina
16:07overwhelmed the levees
16:09and tore through the city,
16:11destroying 160,000 homes.
16:22Four years later...
16:24You can see where the waterline was
16:34from Hurricane Katrina.
16:35It's a little less than
16:38two feet below the eaves,
16:39which means that it's
16:41a little more than 17 feet
16:42above the ground here.
16:43The mud and debris have been cleared.
16:56And the 270 floodgates
16:58and 520 miles of levees
17:00have been fortified.
17:03New homes are being built.
17:04But recovery has lagged
17:09in some parts of the city,
17:11giving us a grim preview
17:12of a life after people.
17:16Almost 20,000 people
17:18once lived here.
17:20A few were celebrities,
17:22like rock and roll legend
17:23Fats Domino.
17:25Others were part of the lifeblood
17:27of New Orleans,
17:28staffing the hotels
17:29and playing music in the cafes.
17:31Many lost almost everything
17:33they had to Katrina.
17:38Four years later,
17:40fewer than 20% had returned.
17:43Hurricane Katrina
17:45destroyed houses
17:47to the point that
17:49they couldn't be repaired
17:50and just washed people
17:53out of here.
18:01The ruins of these homes
18:03are a warning
18:04to other flood-prone communities.
18:08The roof of this home
18:10buckled and broke
18:11under the flood's weight
18:12as the waters surged in
18:14from above
18:15and through walls
18:18and windows.
18:24This is a typical
18:25wood-framed house
18:27that you would find
18:28in the Lower Ninth Ward
18:29or St. Bernard Parish.
18:32The water was about
18:3316 feet high
18:34in this area
18:35and I would have put
18:36a lot of forces
18:37on the wood.
18:39This is almost
18:40four years later
18:41and after it was
18:42initially gutted,
18:43probably very little's been done.
18:45It's continued
18:46to deteriorate.
18:48But one material
18:50has endured
18:50the destructive power
18:52of water.
18:56The ceramic tile
18:57bonded to the hidden
18:58concrete slab
18:59may be the last part
19:01of the house to go.
19:03The clay and water compound
19:04has been sealed
19:05with a chemical glaze
19:06that keeps out
19:07heat, moisture
19:08and bacteria.
19:10Most ceramics
19:11combine elements
19:11like oxygen or nitrogen
19:13with aluminium,
19:14calcium or silicon.
19:16They have a strong
19:17crystalline atomic structure
19:18which resists moisture.
19:23Around the world,
19:25ceramic tiles
19:25have kept out water
19:27and decay for centuries.
19:29I predict this floor
19:31will be here
19:31for hundreds of years.
19:33I don't feel
19:34any hollow sound
19:35under there
19:36so come hell
19:38or high water
19:39I think this floor
19:40will be here.
19:42Although intact,
19:43the floor will soon
19:44be buried
19:45by what's left
19:46of the roof.
19:48Maybe a good gust
19:50of wind will hit it
19:51and knock it over
19:52the rest of the way
19:53because it doesn't have
19:54a lot of residual
19:55strength in it.
19:58Once the bricks
19:59fall over the frame
20:00isn't going to have
20:01a lot of resistance
20:02to wind.
20:04But if it's just
20:04left as it is,
20:06I predict that
20:06if you come back
20:07in ten years
20:08it'll be a pile of rubble
20:09on the ground.
20:10It could happen
20:11next year
20:12if we get
20:13a major hurricane.
20:18Between the 18th century
20:22and the first decade
20:24of the 21st century
20:25New Orleans
20:26suffered a dozen
20:27direct hits
20:28from hurricanes
20:28and severe tropical storms.
20:31But drainage pumps
20:32always dried things out
20:34and the people
20:35always rebuilt.
20:41Hurricane Bessie
20:42was in 1965.
20:43the area
20:44that we're in now
20:45got about
20:46eight feet of water.
20:49I lived a couple
20:51of miles
20:51to the east
20:52in St. Bernard Parish
20:53and we got
20:55three feet of water
20:56in the house.
20:57And our neighborhood
20:59probably took
21:00about a year
21:00to recover.
21:02But Hurricane Bessie
21:03was nothing
21:04like Hurricane Katrina.
21:06Hurricane Katrina
21:06was ten times worse.
21:08Many homes
21:17in St. Bernard's
21:18Parish today
21:19not only bear
21:20the marks
21:20of Katrina's
21:21savagery
21:21and man's neglect.
21:23They show
21:24the spread
21:24of a microscopic
21:25predator
21:26that infests
21:27all homes
21:28threatened by water.
21:34High moisture
21:35levels encourage
21:36the growth
21:37of mould spores.
21:38Of the more
21:39than 100,000
21:40kinds of mould
21:41the most
21:42common species
21:43associated
21:44with domestic
21:44water damage
21:45in homes
21:45is the black
21:47slimy
21:47Stachybotrys.
21:49It decomposes
21:50the drywall
21:51and the wood
21:52beneath
21:52undermining
21:53the structure
21:53of the walls
21:54and ceilings
21:55leaving the
21:56apartments
21:56more vulnerable
21:57to the hurricanes
21:58that are guaranteed
21:59to strike again.
22:04You come back
22:06in 20 years
22:07because the buildings
22:08will probably be
22:09piles of rubble
22:10on the ground
22:11and you'll have
22:11trees and vines
22:12growing over the top
22:13of them.
22:1420 years
22:25after people
22:26the 7,000 foot
22:28sea wall
22:28protecting the centre
22:29of Seattle
22:30from the saltwaters
22:31of Puget Sound
22:32is about to give way.
22:34Downtown area of Seattle
22:36at one time
22:36was a salt marsh
22:37sea walls
22:38were built
22:39to keep the tide
22:39from coming up
22:40and into the town.
22:42First built
22:43in 1934
22:44the wall's
22:45wooden supports
22:46have long been
22:46undermined
22:47by flea-sized
22:4814-legged crustaceans
22:50called gribbles.
22:53To feed their
22:54need for nitrogen
22:55the seagoing gribbles
22:56chew through timbers
22:58to eat microorganisms
22:59in the wood.
23:02Gribbles wrecked
23:03two of Columbus's ships
23:04in 1502
23:05and ached
23:06through all the
23:06exterior wood
23:07on the sunken Titanic.
23:11Now
23:12the gribbles
23:14have doomed
23:14the Seattle seawall.
23:20Uncontrolled
23:20seawater rushes in
23:22turning much
23:23of the centre
23:23of Seattle
23:24back into
23:25a saltwater marsh.
23:32It's 30 years
23:34after people
23:34and despite
23:35damaged storm
23:36drains
23:37and sea walls
23:38Seattle
23:38is high and dry
23:40compared to
23:40New Orleans.
23:42It'll be flooded.
23:44New Orleans
23:44in 30 years
23:45will have
23:46fish
23:46and snakes
23:47and tops
23:48of houses
23:50sticking out
23:51and vines
23:52growing all over
23:53and it'll be
23:54kind of like
23:55a jungle
23:55grown around
23:57the remnants
23:57of structures.
23:59But this is not
24:00the result
24:01of failed levees.
24:02they still
24:03stand.
24:07New Orleans
24:07Achilles heel
24:08was its
24:08150
24:09drainage pumps.
24:12Without humans
24:14to run the pumps
24:14and with little
24:15natural evaporation
24:16the lower parts
24:18of the city
24:18filled with rain.
24:20Although Seattle
24:21has a reputation
24:22for rainfall
24:23New Orleans
24:23actually averages
24:24almost twice as much
24:26about 5 feet
24:27a year.
24:29The levees
24:30that were built
24:30to keep water
24:31out
24:31now hold
24:33the flood
24:33in
24:34creating new
24:35kinds of aquariums
24:37for the city.
24:41The marble floors
24:42of some of the hotels
24:43here would be
24:44unrecognizable
24:45because they would be
24:46under layers
24:47and layers
24:47of sediment.
24:50They would be
24:51inhabited by things
24:52like clams
24:53crabs
24:54to worms
24:55and would
24:56eventually give way
24:57to be nurseries
24:58for some of
24:58the larger fish.
25:0750 years
25:08after people
25:09from 200
25:13to 22,000 miles
25:15above the Earth's
25:16oceans
25:17there is
25:18carnage.
25:20In the time
25:21of humans
25:21almost 3,000
25:23active satellites
25:24monitored the stars
25:25the weather
25:26and life below.
25:30In February
25:312009
25:32a defunct
25:33Russian satellite
25:34crashed into
25:35a US satellite
25:36in a 600
25:37piece pileup.
25:39Without humans
25:40to control
25:41the crowded spaceways
25:42accidents
25:42have multiplied.
25:46Fragments
25:47strike at
25:4715,000 miles
25:48an hour.
25:50The collisions
25:50send shards
25:51smashing into
25:52other satellites
25:53sending some
25:54down in flames
25:55to be extinguished
25:57in the sea.
26:07In Seattle
26:08the 605 foot
26:10tall space needle
26:11built as a symbol
26:12of the 1962
26:13World's Fair
26:14once lured
26:16visitors with
26:16its spectacular views.
26:21Now
26:21the windows
26:22have all blown out
26:23destroyed by
26:24corrosion
26:25from Seattle's rain.
26:30Our glass
26:31is expected
26:31to last
26:3220, 25 years
26:33but if you
26:34didn't have
26:34the proper
26:35maintenance
26:35as corrosion
26:36gets in there
26:37that's going
26:38to pinch
26:38on the glass
26:39and eventually
26:40cause cracks.
26:41Those cracks
26:41will become failures
26:42and that'll be
26:43the thing
26:43that kind of
26:44opens up.
26:47In the time of humans
26:48it took 24 people
26:49and $2 million
26:50a year
26:51to maintain
26:52the needle's
26:53structure
26:53and safety.
26:56While the tall
26:57structure was an
26:58occasional target
26:58for lightning
26:59the space needle
27:00will not perish
27:01by fire.
27:06After 50 years
27:07the exterior paint
27:08has flaked away
27:09and the steel
27:10faces corrosion
27:11some of it
27:13from an unexpected
27:14source.
27:17Water stored
27:18in the trees
27:19that have
27:19reclaimed the city.
27:20The trees
27:23will dump
27:24leaves
27:25and pine
27:25needles
27:26on the ground
27:26and some
27:27of this
27:27will fall
27:28on the base.
27:29If the leaves
27:30fell in this
27:30area
27:30if you had
27:31a stack
27:32of leaves
27:32here
27:32those leaves
27:33would capture
27:34moisture
27:34and they
27:35would hold
27:35the moisture
27:35and they
27:36would hold
27:36it for weeks
27:37and months
27:38at times
27:38and not only
27:39that
27:39they're somewhat
27:40acidic
27:40and rain
27:42is somewhat
27:42acidic
27:42so the whole
27:43process
27:44could really
27:44accelerate
27:45corrosion.
27:48Although
27:48the space needle
27:49will stand
27:50for many
27:50decades to
27:51come
27:51the corrosive
27:52power of
27:53water
27:53will one
27:54day
27:54bring it
27:55down.
28:00While the
28:01needle stands
28:01its former
28:02high altitude
28:03restaurant
28:04is a roosting
28:04place for
28:05peregrine falcons
28:06the fastest
28:07creatures on
28:08earth
28:08swooping down
28:09on their prey
28:10at more than
28:11270 miles
28:12an hour.
28:14Peregrines
28:14naturally nest
28:15on cliffs
28:15so putting
28:17a nest
28:17on a little
28:18ledge outside
28:18a window
28:19really is
28:19similar to
28:20nesting
28:20on a little
28:20ledge
28:21on a cliff
28:21so if
28:22there's
28:22pigeons
28:23living below
28:23a nest
28:24that's
28:24a good
28:25home.
28:28Other birds
28:29have changed
28:29more than
28:30just their
28:30habitats.
28:33In cities
28:34around the
28:34world
28:35songbirds
28:36have changed
28:36their tunes
28:37and their
28:38frequencies.
28:41In the
28:41time of
28:42humans
28:42researchers
28:43were amazed
28:43that recordings
28:44of songbird
28:45mating calls
28:45from the
28:461970s
28:47sounded different
28:48from the
28:48same kinds
28:49of birds
28:49in the
28:50same areas
28:5130 years
28:52later.
28:53The reason?
28:54Quiet country
28:55had become
28:58noisy city
28:58and so birds
29:00adapted.
29:01If you think
29:02about that
29:02background
29:03din of
29:03humanity
29:03as being
29:04a low
29:05frequency
29:05noise,
29:07we see
29:07birds shifting
29:07and singing,
29:08raising the
29:09pitch,
29:09raising the
29:10frequency
29:10of their
29:10songs to
29:11sing,
29:11to get
29:11their message
29:12across above
29:12this background
29:13noise.
29:15Now,
29:16the cities
29:17have been silent
29:18for several
29:18generations of
29:19birds and the
29:20mating calls
29:21have returned
29:22to their
29:22lower
29:22frequencies.
29:23In Dubai,
29:31the Burj Al Arab
29:32can no longer
29:33hold out
29:34against nature's
29:35attacks.
29:36The metal skin
29:37of the building
29:37has fallen away
29:38and the
29:40corroded,
29:41mould-ridden
29:41structure
29:42falls apart.
29:53In the Gulf
29:59of Mexico,
30:00a century
30:00of hurricanes
30:01has reduced
30:02the nearly
30:024,000 oil
30:03platforms
30:04to just
30:06one.
30:08Every time
30:09there's a
30:10hurricane,
30:10statistically,
30:11we lose
30:12about 3 or
30:124% of the
30:13platform fleet.
30:15Over a 20-year
30:17period,
30:17a 9,000-ton
30:18oil platform
30:19can sink
30:20several feet
30:21into the soft
30:21seabed of the
30:22Gulf of Mexico.
30:23So every year
30:25makes it more
30:25vulnerable to
30:26ocean waves,
30:27which can top
30:2850 feet.
30:30The last
30:31platform would
30:32probably be a
30:32big rust bucket
30:33with a missing
30:34deck and
30:35barnacles and
30:36marine growth.
30:38A final wave
30:40pushes the
30:41rusty hulk over
30:42into the
30:42waiting embrace
30:43and roar
30:44of the deep.
30:52The next
30:53two centuries
30:53will see the
30:54toppling of a
30:55city's symbol,
30:56the fall of
30:58an icon of
30:58earthly and
30:59spiritual power,
31:01and the final
31:01failure of the
31:02New Orleans
31:03levees thanks to
31:04a creature so
31:05dangerous it
31:06was once
31:07hunted by the
31:08police.
31:08110 years after
31:18people, marine
31:21animals have
31:22created new
31:22habitats from the
31:23ruins of human
31:24endeavors.
31:26They will find
31:27sunken vessels,
31:28fallen bridges,
31:29brick rack,
31:30buildings that may
31:31have fallen in,
31:32sunken or flooded.
31:33anything that
31:36provides some
31:37sort of a
31:37structure, marine
31:38organisms will
31:39start to
31:39colonize them.
31:44Even sunken oil
31:45platforms are now
31:47habitats with only a
31:48limited risk of oil
31:49seeping out of the
31:50undersea pipelines.
31:51It would take
31:53probably a 60-year
31:54period for the
31:56systems that are
31:57containing the oil to
31:58fail sufficiently that
31:59you'd start oozing
31:59oil.
32:00But at the same time
32:01the oil is going to
32:02degrade and gel and
32:04be less fluid.
32:05The automatic systems
32:06are designed to
32:07protect even without
32:08people.
32:09The platforms are
32:10first colonized by
32:12barnacles, followed
32:13by sponges, corals
32:15and oysters.
32:17Next what you'll
32:18start to see are
32:18invertebrates and
32:19reef fish that start
32:20to make homes and
32:21the crevices and
32:22the hideaways.
32:24Within five years
32:25of the platform
32:26sinking, the sharks
32:28arrive and the food
32:29chain is complete.
32:31So it actually is an
32:33entire ecosystem where
32:35there might not have
32:36been anything there
32:37before.
32:39Below the waves or
32:40above, water will
32:42leave nothing
32:43untransformed.
32:44125 years after people.
32:56Moscow's colourful St.
32:58Basil's Cathedral still
32:59stands in Red Square.
33:01In fact, the
33:02disappearance of man has
33:03actually helped preserve
33:04it.
33:06In the time of humans,
33:07the foundations of the
33:0816th century structure
33:10were weakened by vibrations
33:11from tank parades
33:13and rock concerts.
33:18A recent Russian
33:19government report
33:20warned, if nothing is
33:22done, in a hundred
33:23years we could lose it.
33:27Buildings seem a lot
33:28like people.
33:29I mean, most people
33:29don't die instantly.
33:32You know, one thing
33:33starts to fail and
33:34another thing starts to
33:35fail.
33:35Well, that's probably
33:38what happens with most
33:39of our buildings.
33:40It's a cascading
33:41effect.
33:44St. Basil's death
33:45knell comes from
33:46decades of water
33:47damage.
33:48Cracked drainage
33:49pipes spill out rain
33:50and snow, forming a
33:52swamp that turns to
33:53ice in the winter,
33:54pushing against the
33:55outside walls.
33:57A final crack sends
33:59the central bell tower
34:00crashing into one of
34:01the domes.
34:02The eastern wall
34:03gives way.
34:04more domes fall,
34:06pulling wood, brick
34:07and sacred icons
34:08down into the swamp.
34:18In New Orleans,
34:20the levees are being
34:21eroded by a relative
34:22of the beaver, the
34:23Nutria, a two-foot-long,
34:2520-pound rodent.
34:29The Nutria can swim
34:30and it loves to burrow
34:31into the levees in search
34:33of food and shelter,
34:34clawing away at the
34:35structures.
34:37In the time of humans,
34:39New Orleans actually
34:40sent police swap teams
34:42after the rodents.
34:44In the 1990s, more than
34:4614,000 were culled.
34:52Now, the Nutrias have
34:54torn apart the levees in
34:551,000 places.
34:56The barriers fall apart.
34:57The barriers fall apart and
34:59the waters of the Mississippi
35:01tumble in to meet Lake
35:02Pontchartrain.
35:04The failure of the levees
35:06actually reduces the floodwaters
35:07which top 20 feet in places.
35:10If the levees fail, then the water here
35:16will be basically sea level.
35:19And so, since this ground is
35:21two or three feet or four feet
35:23below sea level, that would be
35:25the depth of the water
35:26and it would fluctuate with the tides.
35:27Although the flood tide is lower,
35:31the introduction of so much salt water
35:33hastens the corrosion
35:34at the base of the buildings.
35:40200 years after people.
35:43In what was once Seattle,
35:44corrosion has also been eating away
35:46at the needle's supports.
35:48When the roof starts to leak,
35:51moisture starts to get inside
35:52the structure.
35:53And that moisture causes
35:54the steel to want to corrode.
35:59The weakest link probably
36:01is going to be some of these joints,
36:03some of the support bracing
36:04that's in place.
36:06You know, those are the kind of things
36:07that have the most opportunity
36:09for corrosion to kind of get
36:10into some cracks,
36:11take hold, and then expand from there.
36:18Weakened from a hundred wounds
36:20over 200 years,
36:22the symbol of hope and progress
36:23from 1962 gives up the fight.
36:43As the planet's life after people
36:45stretches from thousands of years
36:47to millions,
36:48what products of man's hands
36:50will best survive
36:51the waters of destruction?
36:53If one day alien archaeologists
36:56excavate the drowned earth,
36:58what will they find?
37:10300 years after people.
37:13In the flooded marshlands
37:14of New Orleans,
37:15the tallest building
37:16has lasted the longest.
37:18The 697-foot corporate headquarters
37:21at one Shell Square.
37:23Its windows are gone,
37:25but the structure remains.
37:27The concrete is poured
37:29around the steel columns,
37:30and so the steel
37:31is fairly well protected.
37:33So it's going to last
37:35several hundred years,
37:36I believe.
37:38But water has been corroding
37:39the building for 300 years,
37:41while more than 20 major hurricanes
37:43have whipped around its walls
37:44and girders.
37:47The final Category 4 proves too much,
37:50as wind and waves
37:51bring the tower hurtling down.
37:531,000 years after people.
38:16New Orleans buildings are gone,
38:18but something else survives
38:21in the mud.
38:25Mardi Gras beads.
38:27Strings of bright baubles
38:29worn to celebrate Fat Tuesday.
38:32Originating in the 1920s
38:34as necklaces of cheap glass,
38:35the beads are now a form
38:37of sunken treasure.
38:38Mardi Gras beads are basically
38:42plastic coming from China,
38:45and the string would probably break,
38:47but I'm sure there will be
38:48little beads under the mud
38:50in the muck in thousands of years.
38:58In the time of humans,
39:00staying above the mud
39:01was a prime concern
39:02when people thought
39:03about their deaths.
39:04They wanted their embalmed bodies
39:08to be safe from floods
39:09in above-ground stone mausoleons.
39:14New Orleans' first
39:16above-ground cemetery
39:17was built in 1789.
39:19It was a practical solution
39:20to the problem
39:21of burying the dead
39:22in soggy ground,
39:24as well as an imitation
39:25of the aristocratic fashion
39:26in France and Spain
39:27of building impressive
39:28family tombs.
39:29Eventually,
39:35more than 40 of these
39:36so-called cities of the dead
39:38rose up in New Orleans.
39:42Impressive and mysterious,
39:44the carved tombs
39:45and marble mausoleons
39:46not only attracted
39:47prospective occupants,
39:49but tourists as well.
39:55Although some of the
39:56above-ground cemeteries
39:57were flooded
39:57during Hurricane Katrina,
39:59there was little damage
40:00to the tombs
40:01or the corpses.
40:03The cities of the dead
40:04withstood the worst effects
40:05of water
40:06for more than 200 years.
40:10But in several thousand years,
40:12geologic forces
40:13will pile up sediment
40:14and the city of New Orleans
40:16will lie beneath
40:17the Mississippi Delta.
40:20New Orleans is subsiding.
40:21We cannot stop that.
40:25And the dead
40:26will lie undisturbed
40:27no longer.
40:29There will be some mud
40:33seeping in
40:34to the coffin
40:34and that will begin
40:36to encase and envelop
40:38the remains of the body.
40:3910 million years after people,
40:55the fossilized corpses
40:56of New Orleans
40:57are a mile and a half underground
40:59where pressure and heat
41:00cause a further transformation.
41:04We're at temperatures now
41:05of that of boiling water.
41:07the bones
41:08will now be quite dense.
41:09The soft tissue
41:10is carbonized
41:11and what is being
41:13extracted from the soft tissues
41:15will be beginning
41:16to form oil,
41:18mobile hydrocarbons
41:19that will be migrating
41:20up through the sediment
41:22that has accumulated
41:23on top of our cemetery.
41:25humans who explored
41:29the Gulf of Mexico
41:30for oil
41:30now become oil
41:32themselves,
41:34transformed into
41:35the fossil fuels
41:35they once exploited
41:37to run their cities.
41:43Man once probed
41:45the deep
41:45to provide food
41:46and energy
41:47for his cities
41:47and machines.
41:48now many of those
41:51achievements
41:52have sunk beneath
41:53the waves forever.
41:56Water has ravaged cities
41:58with floods from the sea
41:59and rain from the heavens.
42:03Towers built in months
42:04or years
42:05have been pulled down
42:06over decades
42:07by slow
42:07but unstoppable corrosion.
42:11Temples to eternal faiths
42:13have proved remarkably
42:15short-lived.
42:15ancient monuments
42:19in stone
42:19were just sandcastles
42:21to be washed away.
42:23Humans used water
42:24to radically reshape
42:26the landscapes
42:26of the world.
42:29The structures
42:30and creatures
42:30that survived after man
42:32will inherit an earth
42:33forever changed
42:34by the force
42:35and fury of water
42:36in a life
42:39after people.
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