Imagine

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman

Nonfiction

This book has won multiple awards, and rightly so! 

The author poses these simple questions:  What if all the human beings on earth just disappeared?  What would happen to the world without our interfering?  How long would it take for the Earth to forget all about us?  These are fascinating questions, but then the author goes on to describe exactly what would happen without us here.  Turns out, the world would keep on turning.  Mother Earth doesn't need us at all.  It's a humbling, sobering thought for a species who thinks the world revolves around them and their needs.  It's amazing how quickly creature comforts would erode without man's constant intervention.  Some major cities would either flood for catch fire withing day.  Yet, what other creatures need these comforts but man?

Even though the book was written more than five years ago, the research and facts are still relevant today.  (Although I am not a scientist!)  Weisman's writing isn't boring or dry.  He injects the perfect amount of drama into a very scholarly subject.  It is not an easy book to read, but it is a fascinating one.  It is a great book for those interested in preserving our natural resources.  It shows what an amazing machine our Earth is.  There are some very disturbing facts about how we have ruined the Earth, maybe forever, and a lesson on how the Earth is slowly, slowly, reclaiming herself.  If more people read this book, and others like it, our environment would be in much better shape--it's that important of a read.  It gives the genre "dystopian" a whole new meaning!