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Nov 09, 2010AnneDromeda rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
_The World Without Us_ provides an interesting counterpoint to other enviro-conscious works of non-fiction. Like Gwynne Dyer's _Climate Wars_, _The World Without Us_ draws on facts and research to create scenarios that illustrate the effect we humans are having on our environment as a species. More introspective and less thoroughly grim than _Climate Wars_, this book's scenarios all revolve around one unifying question: If we all disappeared - today, tomorrow, or slowly in an agonizing die-off - what would become of the beautiful world we leave behind? Would it recover from our insults, or would our most destructive technologies' decomposition make life impossible? Weisman has done his research, and filled in the unknowns with rich imagination, fine writing, and an eye to current developments. This book's gently delivered message sinks in deep, and leaves you both sad and hopeful.