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What
if the Human Race Suddenly Disappeared?
by
Chuck Hall
 Suppose
that one day we just disappeared from the face of the Earth. What
would happen to the environment?
Within
the first three months a large part of the nitrates and sulfur
dioxide in the atmosphere would be gone. Within ten years or so,
atmospheric methane produced by industry would disappear. Within
fifty years, the nitrates and phosphates in the waterways from
industrial runoff and dumping would be gone. Within a hundred years,
the cities would be overgrown and most of the wooden buildings would
have decayed. It would still take a thousand years for the organic
material in our landfills to decompose. It would also take a
thousand years for man-made carbon dioxide to totally disappear from
the atmosphere. All of our glass and plastic wouldn’t be
completely gone until 50,000 years later! Even this wouldn’t
signify the end of signs of our presence. Some man-made chemicals
could last for up to 200,000 years, and some man-made radioactive
materials could take millions of years to completely decay.
Whenever
I host a workshop on sustainability, there are always those who like
to point out the problems with the topics discussed. They often
offer valuable insights into the environmental impact of alternative
technologies, and their input is welcome in the discussion, but I
think that sometimes we focus too much on the problems involved in
implementing new technologies at the expense of actually taking
action. It’s always easier to point out problems than it is to
make a change. While seeing all sides of the issue is a good thing,
endless debate and negativity can sometimes stall any positive
results.
A
recent example discussed previously in this column was the topic of
wind turbine generators. People point out that wind turbines kill
birds, and some think they mar the landscape. But have we considered
the environmental costs of the alternative? Currently, over half the
electricity in the United States is produced by burning coal. Would
you rather have a bank of windmills outside your window, or a row of
smokestacks?
The
fact is that by simply existing we consume resources. The goal is
(or should be) to minimize our stress on the environment as much as
possible while maintaining a reasonable quality of life. We have to
take the information we have and make informed decisions from there.
There will always be tradeoffs involved. By educating ourselves into
which tradeoffs are acceptable and which are not, we can protect and
conserve our resources.
Chuck
Hall is a Sustainability Consultant and author. His latest book, Green
Circles: A Sustainable Journey from the Cradle to the Grave, is
now available at Booklocker.com.
You may contact Chuck by email at: chuck@cultureartist.org or visit
the Culture Artist Web site at www.cultureartist.org.
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