What If Humans Suddenly Disappeared?

What if humanity suddenly vanished from the Earth? Would our bustling cities, once full of life, become sprawling, metropolitan ghost towns? Would our highways, the crowded thoroughfares of a busy civilization, lay desolate and bare? If humanity suddenly disappeared, how would the Earth change in our absence? What would become of our planet a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand years in the future?

Sources:

What would happen to Earth if humans went extinct?

What could drive humans to extinction?

What would happen if every human suddenly disappeared?

Earth Without People

Earth would be totally chaotic if humans suddenly disappeared

The World Without Us

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Number of Operable Nuclear Reactors Worldwide

Ocean Absorb Almost 1/3 of Global CO2 Emissions

The Oceanic Sink for Anthropogenic CO2 from 1994 to 2007

Founder / Director: Peter Schumaker
Chief Editor:Tristan Reed
Science Editors:
Dr. Caroline Palmer-Puschendorf (PhD)
Dr. Sean McKenna (PhD)
Original soundtrack by Joseph McDade

[AnalDestroyer]

“We may only be remembered as a species, that poisoned the earth”. Damn, hits hard ..

[furrysunny]

There is a whole 2 season series called "Life after people" about this question from around 10 years ago. And the topic still hasn't gotten old.

[alexlim]

This is kinda refreshing, compared to how others would portray the future without humans, they'd used cinematic music that only made the videos seem tense and frightening. While this is a really great video with an awesome direction, tense when needed and being calm or hopeful when needed. Outstanding Video!

[PirvateerKurei]

This is always my favorite topic after dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures: what would happen when all of humanity disappears? What would the animals be like? What would the world look like? Always the best topic. Always surprised when there's not an evolutionary jump

[igiem]

This channel brings me back to the early days of speculative history and how small it really makes me feel. Thank you for reviving that legacy!

[yoshigalxyed]

i've seen a documentary about this before from like 2015, but it's interesting to see the different way things can go depending on how advanced our species is/was at the moment this kind of scenario happens

[kfurnrldbgehebrb]

I love how this channel is asking and answering the real questions

[FTL]

This gave me the idea that we need a game/movie where humanity goes extinct suddenly and after thousands of years another species from out current present gets intelligent enough to study our fossils while living among our ruins, this would be absolutely wild.
Edit
I literally posted this right before he said the same thing could happen 💀

[ianeons]

Unfortunately some species that rely on human captivity may go extinct, however many species will recover from no humans hunting them.

[pointbreak]

The content just keeps getting better and better.

[TheCosmicFreeway]

If humans disappeared then no more pizza... that just simply won't do.

[MarcusAgrippa]

The quality of the videos as well as the questions asked are outstanding

[stevonico]

If no one is around to be unnerved by the silence, is it still unnerving?

[vazak]

I kinda wanna see a series built on this idea with sentient birds taking over Earth and trying to address some of the issues we left behind

[johnb]

If we disappeared, then I suspect cats would eventually take over the planet, invent technology, and create a cat utopia in which robots constantly pet them and cleaned litter boxes.

[LtHxrGamer]

What if 50% of humanity vanished? Then it would be perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

[koharumi]

6:35 one reason why incinerators should be used.
Air filters are then used to capture the fine particles

[dylan]

Glad to say I’ve been here since 100k, that’ll be a bragging right when this channel is at 10 million♥️🤝

[Jabber]

I did enjoy the Life After People series, which also explores our disappearance.

On the other hand, I've always wondered what if the reverse happened? Instead of humans vanishing, what if all human-made objects vanished? Everything from the simplest wooden spears to skyscrapers.

Pretty sure we'd lose a bunch of people, because anyone on or above the second story of buildings would be screwed. But aside from that, would we ever be able to re-industrialize, or would we be stuck at a much lower technological level?

[Neeso]

“What if humans suddenly disappear?”
- Earth begins to smile