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Inspector Hammer!
- John Williamson
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Anyone seen this immensely intriguing special/film on the National Geographic channel? It's basically just an educated hypothesis of what will become of Earth if suddenly every last human being vanished never to return.
It first deals with the loss of power to cities and towns and then onto the dangerous junk we left behind, nuclear facilities heating up and going critical before blanketing much of the Earth in radioactive gases and particles (this was a damn depressing part of the program to me) to how the pets and animal life in our zoo's will cope when having to suddenly fend for themselves without us.
But then the program takes on a powerfully soothing tone as the Earth slowly begins recovering and shedding itself of any evidence that we were ever here, the Eiffel tower slowly collapses along with the Statue of Liberty, skyscrapers and cities crumble to the ground from rot and trees and plant life grows to cover them.
I must admit that i've always wondered what our impact on the planet would be should we become extinct and I never thought it was going to be that cheery but this program went a long way into making me feel at ease about it, it was actually quite comforting to watch.
Sure it was just hypothetical but much of what was depicted and guessed at made sense to me. It looked great in HD, too, they really did a good job with the effects.
If you've seen the show i'd like to know what you thought of what was depicted, did you agree with it?
"You have no idea how far i'm willing to go to acquire your cooperation." - Jack Bauer
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Inspector Hammer!
- John Williamson
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Re: National Geographic's 'AFTERMATH: POPULATION ZERO' and it's validity.
The strange thing about this film is that the apocalypse really didn't seem all that apocalyptic or terrible if that makes any sense lol. Aside from our sudden disappearance, which yes sucks for us, the rest of the show came off quite serene and comforting as peace and abundant life returned to the Earth as it revitalized itself, restoring what we had taken away.
If feels good to know that after we all shuffle off for whatever reason the planet will be okay, that we didn't fuck it up beyond repair afterall which was always a fear and source of heartbreak for me.
I'm glad they chose to just have us vanish in an instant but at the same time it skips over something that will be a reality if a sudden plague, for instance, were to wipe us out quickly and that is our remains, the roaming animals will have plenty to eat that's for sure.
"You have no idea how far i'm willing to go to acquire your cooperation." - Jack Bauer
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Re: National Geographic's 'AFTERMATH: POPULATION ZERO' and it's validity.
Their was a similar show called "Life After People". Which covered a similar situation.
Bring back John Doe! Or at least resolve the cliff-hanger with a 2hr movie or as an extra on a dvd release.
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Re: National Geographic's 'AFTERMATH: POPULATION ZERO' and it's validity.
Thanks for the point-out, sounds intriguing so I just put a hold on it in my library...
Jay
You are the crispy noodle in the vegetarian salad of life
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Inspector Hammer!
- John Williamson
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Re: National Geographic's 'AFTERMATH: POPULATION ZERO' and it's validity.
In my defense, though, i'm no expert at nuclear matters, I had no idea what would happen should we no longer be able to maintain these facilities so when they started to blow and poison everything I had no idea how long it would last or what impact it would have on the surviving wildlife and plant life.
It was this particular fear, more than anything, that I was worried about and this show effectively laid those fears to rest for me.
Anything can heal with time as this show demonstrated.
"You have no idea how far i'm willing to go to acquire your cooperation." - Jack Bauer
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Re: National Geographic's 'AFTERMATH: POPULATION ZERO' and it's validity.
I saw Both Shows Plus a Show on I think History Channel about how the wildlife came back around Chernobal.
So like the show said after about 500 years or so it will look like we never lived
"IF the Facts don't Fit the Theory Change the Facts" Albert Einstein
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Re: National Geographic's 'AFTERMATH: POPULATION ZERO' and it's validity.
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Originally Posted by Inspector Hammer!
If feels good to know that after we all shuffle off for whatever reason the planet will be okay, that we didn't fuck it up beyond repair afterall which was always a fear and source of heartbreak for me.
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Keep in mind this is all under the hypothetical circumstances of the entire human race vanishing sometime soon. As that is not likely to happen, we'll still have plenty of opportunity to destroy the planet beyond repair.
"Because he's the hero that Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now... and so we'll hunt him... because he can take it... because he's not a hero... he's a silent guardian, a watchful protector... a DARK KNIGHT."
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Re: National Geographic's 'AFTERMATH: POPULATION ZERO' and it's validity.
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Originally Posted by Zack Gibbs
Keep in mind this is all under the hypothetical circumstances of the entire human race vanishing sometime soon. As that is not likely to happen, we'll still have plenty of opportunity to destroy the planet beyond repair.
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I really doubt it. It will take a lot of time, but I think Mother Nature can recover on its own. Human survival is another thing.
The man I loved - the man who vanished - he never came back at all. But maybe he's still out there, somewhere. Maybe some day, when Gotham no longer needs Batman, I'll see him again.
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Inspector Hammer!
- John Williamson
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Re: National Geographic's 'AFTERMATH: POPULATION ZERO' and it's validity.
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Originally Posted by Chuck Anstey
I'm not sure which one I watched but it seemed to me that they greatly exaggerated how fast plant life would take over and destroy buildings. I remember it seeming like a just a few short years. I have seen homes nearby that have not had maintenance in a year or more where only the yard was overgrown. I have seen plenty of old abandoned buildings, barns, and homes that haven't had any maintenance in 20 or more years and they were not overgrown with plants. They were just falling apart due to exposure to the elements. Showing vines and plants growing up the side of a skyscraper in the middle of an asphalt and cement jungle in less than hundreds of years seems rather implausible.
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Well, the way they explained it was actually quite plausible, they reasoned that when the growth outside the cities grew more and more the wind would carry seeds into the city and those seeds would then begin growing on everything.
In 30 years NYC looked very much like it did in the Will Smith film
I Am Legend which was mainly long grass and weeds sprouting from cracks in the streets.
Also, the time span of the show began right after our disappearance and spanned 2,500 years, it was at that point where the cities were almost completely engulfed in greenery.
"You have no idea how far i'm willing to go to acquire your cooperation." - Jack Bauer
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Re: National Geographic's 'AFTERMATH: POPULATION ZERO' and it's validity.
Finally got a chance to see this from the library. Thought the little age-progression was pretty cool. I hope my cats will be able to escape and fend for themselves (they were feral and not declawed). Overall, thought the show was a lot of entertainment and not a lot of reference, a good eye candy for what might become of the planet. I agree that the earth is resilant and we haven't really been on this planet for too long. Those nuclear meltdowns is kind of like earth's forestfires, given the planet a chance to rebuild and start anew.
Jay
You are the crispy noodle in the vegetarian salad of life
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Re: National Geographic's 'AFTERMATH: POPULATION ZERO' and it's validity.
"Human extinction porn"
Some people really seem to get off on this stuff. I think it is a bit morbid.
(And note to Zack: No, even if we deliberately turned all of our energies to that end, we could not "destroy the planet". We don't have that kind of power. The late Michael Critchon was pointing that fact out
almost 20 years ago.)
Regards,
Joe
