All language subtitles for Aftermath-Population.Zero.HDTV.XviD-FQM

Planet Earth

a place of constant change
in the hand of powerful being

us

hundreds of thousands of miles into space

and deep beneath the Earth surface
we've created an amazing world

shaping continent

creating ingenious monuments

and transforming landscapes

but the only way to fully understand
the scale of our influences

is to witness the world without it

if we suddenly disappear
what would happen to our highways

cities

rivers

our greatest monuments

enter a desolate world

our world without humans

subtitle by seelenschneider

one minute from now

every single person on Earth will disappear

it doesn't matter how
or that involve its

whats important is what would happen
when we're gone

of the billions of people in the world
half live in cities

farms and pastures cover a third
of all dry land

we dammed and diverted half
the world major rivers

500 million cars cloak the roads & highways

we've affected the air

the sea

and the land

but had we change the Earth forever?

if we vanished could the planet recover?

even erase all evidence that
we ever existed

Friday, June 13

in Berlin it's 1.30 in the afternoon

across the atlantic, stock brokers
getting early start on Wall Street

Las Vegas is anything but sleeping

and in Tokyo, parents took
their kids in the bed

then suddenly, the human race
comes to an end

every single person
in every corner of the world

vanishes....

cities transform into ghost town

laughter linger only to become
a quickly fading echo

things come to a shocking halt

the moment we disappear
the world start to change

there's a eerie silence in cities
that are suddenly a little cooler

the average human body puts out
as much heat as 100 watt light bulb

take away 8 million people from NY

and the entire city cools down
by a fraction of a degree

even though we're gone

the machines we left behind
keep working

all over the world, hundreds of plane
approaching airport runways

most descended over 100 mph and

today all with empty cockpits

every landing will end in a fireball

thousands of other planes fly through
the sky on autopilot

many will stay in the air
for a few more hours

but when the fuel runs out
gravity will pull them back to Earth

in a world without humans

cities continue to function
on thousands of automated system

computers keep in touch with
hundreds of satellites

which would continue to transmit
information across the globe

as long as the power stays on

power is generated by more than 50,000
power plants around the world

in the US coal fire plants produce
half of the country electricity

to keep the fires burning
they require a steady supplies of coal

but there would never be
another delivery

the coal plant start to fail

the western grid is knocked out
by rolling blackout

the shimmering light of Las Vegas
will never shine again

the sun breakthrough the cloud
in Pennsylvania quite still has it power

as temperature rise,
automatic air condition is turn on

the need for electricity surges

this area relies on wind power
in addition to coal

even without us
the wind turbine are still running

so there's enough power
to meet the new demand

but at a local power station there's
no one to decide more power is needed

computers detect the problem
and shutdown the entire system

Pennsylvania is now without power

Niagara falls, Canada

is home to one of the world
first commercial hydro-electric plants

it provide power to more than
2 million homes

a mile upstream water surges into tunnels
that sneak under the city

when it reaches the power plants

it drives the turbine and
create electricity

less than 2 hours ago people work
monitoring this powerful system

but with no one at the controls
the turbines flood

and the plant shut itself down

seconds later blackout is sweep through
part of Ontario and New York

the worldwide lost of electricity
reaches the nuclear power plants

automated system detect the electrical grid
is failing and they shut off the reactors

but this is just the beginning

six hours after humans disappear
the sun goes down in Europe

the last power plants go offline

the dark ages are back

the sun is still shining on North America

and thousands of cars are still running

every gallon of gas they burn send
19 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air

this greenhouse gas can pollute the sky
for the next 100 years

without us, another source of man made
global warming is also disappearing

planes send out water vapor
in their exhaust

and the cold day transforms
the vapor into clouds

but as the last plane fall from the sky
this man made clouds disappear with it

fuel stall jets aren't the only disaster
rolling through this new world

all over the globe, industrial plants
react to the permanent lost of power

some gasses need electricity to keep
them cold enough to restore in liquid form

if they don't have power
the cooling unit stop working

eventually, the liquid come to a boil and
create dangerously high pressures

many tanks have relief valves
to that gas to avoid explosion

but hundred of thousands tanks all venting
at the same time is unimaginable

the gasses spread wherever the wind blows

and some are heavier than air

a danger to any creature that
rouse around in the soil

the same chemicals that make
the modern world possible

are now set loose to destroy it

emergency backup systems are sustaining
the world's nuclear power plants

automatic diesel generators have kicked in
to prevent a catastrophic meltdown

but the diesel fuel won't last forever

all over the world, pets are getting hungry

if they don't find food
and water soon, they'll die

but they are not the only animals affected

the global power failure is also impact
in zoos and safari parks

no longer contain by electric fences,

predators are free to explore
their new world

and its dangerous

chlorine gas from a derailed train
kill this herd of deer

changes are also taking place at some
natural gas facilities

with a power off, the liquid natural gasses
are starting to vent

but most of it is being burn off
in automatic safety feature

designed to contain gas leak of plants

with the tanks venting
the explosive gas can reach idling cars

left behind when their owner disappeared

it only takes one small spark
and the new world echoes with explosion

and this is just the start

fires like this will burn for days
as hundred of chemical plants

around the world send dangerous
toxin into the air

in just six short hours, our disappearance

has triggered a serious of catastrophes
around the world

and thus animals and atoms infiltrate
this world without human

how much bigger disaster could be lump?

it's been 3 days since human's disappear
from the Earth

power plants are failed

machines are ground to a halt

thousands of tons of toxic chemicals
has escape from the world's plants

in London, England
Big Ben is due for its winding

but without the help of human hand,
it ring for the last time

human time and human history
have stopped

but life on Earth continues

houses and apartments are still inhabited
by increasingly hungry pets

it's been 3 days since anyone
is phantom

so they devour anything they can find

in the US, tens of millions of dogs
were trapped when their owner vanished

now they either have to breakout
of their homes or die

with the failure of power plants
around the globe

pets inherit a dark world

at nuclear power plants

emergency diesel generators started working
as soon as the electricity failed

but without power, this building

and hundreds like it will soon calls
an unprecedented disaster

this is the spent fuel handling building,
where radioactive fuel is stored

in cooling pools after it use
to generate power

the pool is 30 feet deep and fill with
400 tons of spent nuclear fuel

the result of atoms splitting to create
nuclear energy

and split atom keep releasing
heat and radiation

the spent fuel is contain in
circular tubes

and they're dangerous

if they're not kept on under water
they'll quickly heat up to 1000 degrees

they need to be kept

in flowing refrigerated water
for years before they cool off

nuclear storage sites can be found
all over the world

there are 75 in the US alone

the spent fuel is safe as long as
the generator stay on

and keep the water cool

but if some one doesn't refill them
they'll grain to a stack

and this time no one's coming

pets are now learning to live off the land

for some life was once rich with
food and water

but now scrounging through garbage
is what provide meals

as for water things have change
down by the river

pumps at sewage treatment plant
don't work without electricity

so raw human sewage is sipping into
lakes and rivers

abandon pets aren't the only animals
struggling to survive

the world is filled with cattle

1,4 billion of them and without humans

they too have been force
to fend for them self

now that we're gone, 90,000 cows
a day are safe from slaughter in the US

but dairy cows need 100 pounds of food
and 25 gallons of water everyday to survive

with no electricity, their water supplies
is drying up

the cows are on their own

in a cruel twist of fate they safe from
the slaughter house

but they may all die from dehydration

and things don't look much better
for zoo animals

trapped in their cages,
many of them will die

but those once contained by electric fences
are prisoners no more

they finally break free

elephants need up to
400 pounds of food a day

and finding it in the suburb
will be a struggle

this enormous herbivore will give a serious
prominent to each neighborhood they visit

predators also prowl the suburbs

this hungry lion have spotted another
escapee from the zoo

but lions are skill hunter on savannah
not in public parks

and climbing plastic is one challenge
they can't win

with the baboon out of reach,
they need to find some easier prey

camels on the other hand are having
no problem finding food

they eat almost any vegetation
grass, leafs, even thorns

that other animals avoid are on their menu

and with food in every turn, camels
easily adapt to a world without humans

the lions have move
from the park to the porch

as they continue their search for food

an unusual type

over head birds are migrating
and without human around

many more will survive this year

at night birds use the stars to navigate

with the power on, lights and glowing
skyscrapers resemble stars

so birds often circle them all night
and die of exhaustion

but in a world without humans
there is no power

so migrating birds fly more
safely through major cities

millions will reach their destinations

their population will boom

all city streets, dogs have gone from
pets to predators

within a week of loosing their
human masters,

they forming packs and
fighting for dominants

which has it happens in 2005
when hurricane Katrina

force human to evacuate New Orleans
and leave many dogs behind

the dogs started hunting in packs
and threatening humans

but not all dogs are equal

with more than 400 different breeds
some variety like this puddle

don't have the size or strength
to compete

and like wolves, dogs will kill their own

so every small dog is a potential meal

in next few weeks,
most small dogs will be killed

at nuclear power plants, diesel generator
are finally running out of fuel

the power goes off for good
inside the spent fuel buildings

the cool waters stop flowing

a temperature start to rise

in just a few days, the water will
boil and evaporate

and without people to stop it
a nuclear disaster greater than the world

has ever seen is now inevitable

a massive dose of radiation
500 times greater

than what was unleashed
on Hiroshima

will be released

dogs from the city are roaming
the countryside looking for food

and they are hungry enough to try
just about anything, even corpses

the field are littered with dead dairy cows

when we were around, dairy cows
provided us with milk for 8,000 years

now their rotting carcasses will do nothing
more than sustain hungry dogs

who just 2 weeks ago would probably
eating comfortably from a can

not all cows are dead

in the wide open spaces of western
north America

free range cattle ox thriving

but this scene can't be safe for the
domesticated animals trapped in pens

1.4 billion chickens have die in the US

leaving only free range poultry to roam
among the world full of predators

death is in the air

a time bomb ticks

this world without humans,
is about to suffer devastating blows

ten days after human's disappear
from the Earth

the power is off

cities are quiet

animals that escaped from zoos and
safari parks roam free

but fight to survive

predators aren't a problem
but we left behind other deadly forces

for days, super heated steam
has been escaping

from the spent fuel building of
this nuclear power plant

with no emergency power, there is nothing
to keep the fuel from heating up

the fuel burns through casings and
sets fire to everything in the room

radiation equal to 500 atomic bomb
is about to explode

this is a nuclear disaster

and there's no one to stop it

a deathly mix of radioactive particles
spews from the plant

some of them like Strontium-90
will be dangerous for 300 years

Plutonium will be radioactive for
240 thousand years

pine trees near the nuclear power plant
are first to die

radioactive particles claim
to their bark and resin

chlorophyll, which makes the trees green
is damage, and as the result

they turn red

the last time a forest died like this
was during the Chernobyl disaster in 1986

radiation contaminated an area of
50,000 square miles, the size of Alabama

in a world without humans,
this scene is repeated again and again

nuclear power poisoned the Earth
we left behind

there are six nuclear power plants
in Illinois

radioactive smoke fills the
street of Chicago

the site of the world first self sustaining
nuclear reaction

fires breakout in many of the
30 nuclear plants located in eastern US

each one is almost 20 times more
radioactive than the Chernobyl disaster

many of Europe's 173 reactors also ignited

their spent fuel burns

carry by the wind, the radiation
is an invisible poison

that’s settle over a thousands square miles

if we were still on the planet
it would cause cancer in millions of people

giant plumes of radioactive
smoke and particles

spread across the northern hemisphere

winds push radiation away from
the reactors in Europe

if conditions are right it could reach
as far as north Africa

radiation from some of Japan's 53 reactors
drift across the Pacific ocean

the world most remote islands
are in its path

rain washes as much as the radiation
from the sky

concentrating its deadly effects

some areas become more deadly than others

large animals flee areas where plants
are die from radiation poisoning

but small creatures aren't that lucky

many lives on the forest's floor

where leafs and soil are coated in
radioactive particles

radioactive beta particles can only
penetrate half an inch into living tissue

for large animals like deer, their
vital organ are spare a direct assault

but its different for small animals

their organs aren't so insulated

radiation cripples them

in the worse stage area
over half of the rodents and insects die

for animals in the cities
and suburbs

they had access to food that
much less radioactive

groceries store can provided enough food
for city mice to last for generation

they also make up perfect breeding ground

a female mouse can give birth to more than
70 offspring in a year

since radiation is killed many of the
mice outside, this cat has indoors

where he just might get the 8 mice
a day he need to stay healthy

humans need of variety of food to get all
the fat, protein and vitamin we required

cats don't

they can produce their own vitamin C
and they get the rest

by eating the organs and entrails of mice

all over the planet, animals are invading
the human world to find food

and what we left behind
will keep them alive

even as cloud of radiation spread

radiation has dissipated

cities are quiet and
the atmosphere is improving

the air is clearer

in Manhattan and Toronto,
the view has increase from 20 miles to 100

city dogs still roam the countryside
looking for food

most of these former pets are far
from skilled hunters

but if there're hungry enough
they'll try to attack anything once

like wolves, dogs hunt by instinct

going for the legs or neck
to bring down a large animal

but instinct is no match for the beast
weighing thousands of pounds

the dogs aren't a threat

and without humans,
the elephants are predator free

in just a few months, pets and zoo animals
have become killers in a radioactive world

but another challenge is on the horizon

winter....

six months after humans disappear

it early December

in a world without us, former zoo animals
and pets either adapted or die

in some parts of the world,

animals are about to face
their next challenge

the coming winter...

a common misconception is that cockroach
is can survive almost anything

but cockroaches are import from the tropic

and only spread north as we started
to use central heating

with the electricity gone
and the furnaces off

millions of cockroaches
will be dead by the new year

for other animals, our sudden disappearance
isn't a problem

it's an opportunity...

raccoons and squirrels are already know
the best way to survive the cold

is to sleep through it...

and this winter, they have many
new dens to choose from

there are drawer and sink
rather sleeping outside

these squirrels are treat weller
so they can pop upstairs

skunks on the other hand
prefer the ground

hibernating animals don't need heat
even when their body temperatures

drop to almost a freezing point

it's a survival strategy their
ancestors evolve long ago

but this African elephant isn't equip
to deal with frigid temperatures

his body evolve to get rid of heat
not keep it

in Africa, his thin ears
would have help him keep cool

but now they just getting frostbitten

to survive, he need to head south

after winter comes a spring
like never before

in the forest near ruin nuclear
power plants, it's a silence season

poisoned by radiation,

this evergreen have lost their ability
to grow new shoots and branches

but further from the
power plants

spring helps repair
the damage we left behind

rain washes radioactive debris
from the leafs and barks

poisonous atom are driven underground

there's still a threat
to anything that lives there

but our radioactive finger print
is starting to disappear

and that's not the only threat to animals
that is vanish

without humans, there is no one to hunt

and a population explosion of animals
takes over the empty spaces

this new world is filled
with new opportunities

it's almost been a year since every car
on Earth ran out of gas

in their last year
on the road,

cars pump 7 billion tons
of CO2 into the air

more than 1 ton for every person on Earth

this green house gas accounted for half
of the impact human's heir on global warm

but now the CO2 will be cleaned up
faster than ever before

in spring, new plants and leafs
need carbon to grow

they draw it out of the air
naturally cleansing a polluted planet

new trees soak up more carbon than old ones

this spring, nature has many
new places to grow

but it has 10,000 years, we've been
imposing our will on the planet

in downtown LA, 2/3 of the land is cover
in roads and parking lots

we made our mark in the suburb too

in the US, lounges and golf courses
cover an area bigger than Florida

now that we're gone,
nature is reclaiming the Earth

nothing is immune

millions of miles of
roads and highways

are slowly being invaded
by moss and lichen

and all they usually need is water

cracked roads are filled in
with moss and grass

a once carefully groom soccer field
now grows wild

fast growing trees take roof
where children once play

all this new plants allow
nature to soak up

green house gasses like CO2
faster than when humans were here

year after year, our grip on the land
is loosening

but humans also try to rule the sky

and now, even that reminder of our time
on Earth may disappear

it's been 30 years since humans disappeared

at night, the only light comes from
the moon and the stars

once Earth was so well lit
it was easily seeing from space

but 30 years after the
light went out

Earth inhabitants watch a new
kind of light show

hundreds of strange shooting stars
fly through the sky

a few even make it to the ground

the fiery wreckage contains clues
that these are not normal meteorites

these shooting stars are some of the last
survivors of the space age

humans left 25,000 objects
orbiting the Earth

most of it was junk,
clamps, pieces of a rockets

remnants left from our
50 years of working in space

and without us, there's nothing to keep it
from falling back where it came from

when solar storm erupt
on the surface of the sun

radiation expand to Earth atmosphere and
slows orbiting satellites and space junk

gravity does the rest

satellites in higher orbit
has been slowly spiraling closer

to the Earth
for the last 30 years

now with dead batteries,
they plummet to the ground

back on Earth,
the world continues to change

human homes slowly collapse

plants and animals help
speed up the process

for 3 decades, animals have now
through roofs and walls

dirt and seed have blown into the houses

living room had become home for trees

rain falls into dinning rooms and kitchens

ceilings and floors rot and fall apart

school once talk about
human tried over nature

but in just 30 years, nature reclaims
much of what humans took away

changes are specially obvious
along the world's coast line

where we built many
of our cities and homes

now, hurricane wash them away
as if they never existed

from Miami to Halifax, mansions and
are destroyed

man made global warming still affect
the world ocean

even 30 years after people
stop polluting them

while houses collapse on land
remnants of the human world

create new home for marine life

at least 50,000 ships are strand
along seashore are rusting on the seabed

these ship wrecks are a magnet
for shark and fish

and they provide thousands of places
for fish to live and breed

above the waves, nature advance continues

humans use 1/3 of all dry land
for farms and pastures

but now, fields originally planted
with single crops,

had been invaded by a variety of
fast growing weeds and wild flowers

every year, forests expand their territory
growing close to meadows, bushes and shrubs

it took us 10,000 years
to force our will on the planet

carved our mark on every continent

now, nature is invading
civilization citadel

the concrete jungle

welcome to a world 30 years
after humans disappear

there is no power...

screech of cars and jets will never
be heard again

but cities are still fill with life

wild dogs hunt in packs, roaming the roads
and sidewalks we once roam

plants and trees are taking over...

NY's central park is actually
getting bigger

dirt and seeds blow through the city
and take root everywhere

Manhattan turns from grey to green

Times Square, once was
a hotspot for millions

to celebrates the start of a new year

now, it's being engulfed
by a blanket of green

nature is reclaiming the world,
city by city...

in London, young trees sprout
in Trafalgar Square

in Berlin, a forests
surround the Brandenburg Gate

once the division
of eastern West Germany

30 years after we disappear,
glass tumble on the deserted street

once, glass covered office towers
symbolize the modern age

there was more glass
in one skyscraper

than all of the glass made
during the Roman Empire

but most skyscrapers were
build using cog and metal clips

to keep the windows in place

after 30 years, the clips are rusting
for cogging cracks

water gets into the cracks
and the frames get weak

the era of the gleaming skyscraper
is ending...

high above them, hawks and other raptors
are on patrol

keeping an eye out of first scampering prey

the concrete jungle is born...

relics of human existence slowly
disintegrate

after years of neglect, paint peel away

raw metal is expose to the elements

rust spreads...

the steady advance of nature
also damages concrete

this was once a train station crowded
with commuters

now its concrete roof is falling apart

concrete is strong, but extremely pores

rain washes away the lime stone
used to make it

stalactites grow a centimeter every year
and then break off

slowly weakening the concrete

this roof will collapse in last than
20 years

humans maybe gone, but were still
contributing to this destruction

we burn fossil fuel and pop tons of
CO2 into the air for more than a 100 years

now, the planet is slowly getting rid
of all pollution

as CO2 returns to Earth, it mixes with
rain water and produces carbonic acid

which eats away at the world concrete

much of our modern world rose from concrete

now these soaring
buildings engineering marvelous

are ready to fall

cities all over the world
face the same faith

a slow disintegration...

without windows, high rise offices are now
occupied by birds and animals

expose to the elements,
ceiling, tile and dry wall

are no match for more than
half a century of wind and rain

rust is everywhere...

moisture has penetrated the walls and doors
and paint peels off every surface

but the damage goes deeper than that

a city like Paris, gets up to 25 inches
of rain every year

now that the windows are gone
nothing can stop the rain

from flooding the concrete skeleton
of this office tower and creating cracks

the cracks are caused when CO2 penetrates
the maze of microscopic pore in concrete

then its winds in until
it reaches the rebar,

metal that gives reinforce
concrete it strength

rebar is usually hidden
from the outside world

but now the CO2 is
causing the bars to rust

as the rust radiates
out from the steel in expands,

splitting and cracking the concrete

the building is under attack
from the inside out

cracks are appearing all over the world

and there's no one around to fix them

when people were on the planet
problems like this would be repaired

but now, cracked concrete
can't be reinforced or replaced

the damage runs on check

and the changing season
only makes matters worse

as water turns to ice, it expand and puts
more pressure on the crumbling buildings

the constant freezing and falling
makes the cracks grow

in just 100 years, the concrete becomes

too fragile and brittle
to support it's load

the upper floors collapse,
and their combine weight

crushes the floors below

the building crumbles to the ground

our cities are disintegrating...

the planet is absorbing what we left behind

but buildings won't be the last
human structures to fall

so man's greatest feature engineering
maybe next...

for 120 years after humans disappear

many modern skyscrapers has collapse
into heaps of rubble

concrete walls had been destroyed by
steady onslaught of air and rain

but the new landscape has made
cities a little cooler

when we rule the planet
heat from the sun

was soaked up by black roofs and roads

asphalt absorb 95% of the sun's light

black surfaces made city is up to 10 degree
hotter than surrounding areas

but now that we're gone, asphalt
is being covered by grasses and trees

shade keeps the ground cool

the temperature drops

the world's climate is changing...

man made global warming is finally
coming to an end

thanks to ocean...

for the past 120 years,
turning waves have absorb CO2

into the top layer of the seas

then, microscopic plankton and shell fish
absorb it into their bodies

many died and sunk to
the bottom of the ocean

taking our CO2 to the depths

after the last car stop running

much of their exhaust is
finally being buried

our impact on the planet
is decline...

the changes are being felt
all around this new world

in Berlin, young trees attract new life

the saplings growing out of the concrete
provide food for animals

but where there are deer
hunters are sure to follow

these wolves have coming from the country

most of the wolves in Germany
were killed by humans long ago

but these hunters are from Poland

and wolves aren't the only predators around

when we disappeared,
millions of domesticated dogs

had to fight or die

at first, the dogs had enormous
age in numbers

but they would facing a battle
they couldn't win

many of the newly liberated
pets were mutated

unable to reproduce, they lost their
advantage and slowly died out

but not all dogs disappeared

those that manage to survive adapted
to the new reality and mate it with wolves

now they look more like Australian dingos

medium size with straight hair
and long snouts

genetically almost identical,
dogs and wolves were kept apart by humans

but in the world without us,
dog and wolf gen are mixing

a sharing the future of the K9 species

and this new generation
is thriving in cities

120 years after humans disappear,
thousands of wolves hunt across Europe

they need to eat every few days
so they're lured by their prey

downtown...

the urban jungle becomes
a new killing ground

there are some places getting colder
and quieter than humans were here

with no black roads or roofs
some cities definitely suffer the chill

in northern cities, more snow fall
and stays longer

but pack of wolves and dogs still manage
to find food through this cold winters

south of the freezing temperature
are rivers

diverted by humans for power and commerce

this is the Thames river in London, England

humans try to tamed it
for more than 1,000 years

once, the Thames was a gateway
for thousands of ships

but its high tide and storm surges
often threaten to flood the city

so one of the largest system of flood gate
was built to hold the waters back

but without people,
the river is out of control

tied of sub boats into bridges
creating dam

and forcing the Thames
to flow around them

the banks flooded

London returns to the marsh that
the Roman found here 2,000 years ago

in the American southwest
the problem is too little water

this is Imperial valley in
southern California

once, it provided half of the America's
winter fruits and vegetables

with 350 days of sunshine,
some crops had 4 harvest a year

but only 3 inches of rain falls annually

the dry air helps preserve buildings
but it's deadly for crops

people intervene to make this desert bloom

farmers brought in 977 billion gallons
of water each year from the Colorado river

enough to cover every surrounding field
in 6 feet of water

but when we disappeared,
the irrigation stop

what was once California's farming miracle
is now a barren desert

another man made oasis can be found
300 miles northeast

Las Vegas...

built in the middle of a desert
each casinos and fountains

use water brought in by electric pumps

when the power went off,
the tabs went dry

now, with just a few inches of rain a year
the desert is reclaiming the city

but nature hasn't erase all evidence
of our presence

this is a Colorado river

it hasn't change much in 150 years
since we disappeared

but long ago, it was much deeper
and stronger

it even help carved the grand canyon

today, the Colorado is still a shadow
of its form itself

dozen of dams were built
to harness it strength

and keep it from reaching the ocean
as a torrent

humans also built reservoir to contain
it massive power

and there the water will stay
as long as the dam can hold the river back

with the advance of nature, one of man's
greatest structure faces destruction

200 years after humans disappear

nature has taken over
many of the world's cities

but some rivers has still shackle
by concrete monoliths

dozen of dams still hold back
the Colorado river

the largest of all is the Hoover dam,
just 25 miles from Las Vegas

it's as tall as 70 storey building

with a base as thick as 2 football fields

enough concrete was pour to pave
a highway from NY to San Fransisco

by blocking the Colorado river,
the dam created the reservoir of lake Mead

there's enough water here to bury
the state of New York under a foot of water

this is the water
that once fed

the fountains and swimming pools
of Las Vegas

the Hoover dam is mostly
made of solid concrete

but even this mammoth monument
is vulnerable

the reason lies up the Colorado river
near the border of Arizona and Utah

this is the Glen canyon dam

it was created to store water
for nearby city

and to generate electricity

but this dam has a major weakness

it spill ways, which act like an
over flow drain on bathtub

if the river level gets too high
the excess water escape through

the spill way tunnel, so it doesn't
go over the top of the dam

but the spill ways can't handle
sudden floods

the threat is high in the mountains

when winter storms produce
unusually high snow fall

their heavy spring run off
create surging flood waters

they rush head on to the dam

after rusting for 2 centuries, the gates
that control the spill ways have collapse

the water races through 700 feet of tunnels
deep inside the dam

and that's it does,
it create a destructive pattern

a low pressure bubbles form in the water

when they pop, they causes
supersonic explosion

that eat through the rock in to the dam

once, special concrete rams
prevented this from happen

but after 200 years without humans
erosion has taken over the tunnels

600 billion cubic feet of water burst
through the dam and gushes down street

the surge is over 50 feet high

it sweeps through the Grand canyon toward
the Hoover dam

which was built to hold back
45,000 pounds of water per square foot

this is it's greatest test yet

the water pours of the Hoover dam
sweeping away everything in it's path

the Colorado river rages south
25 miles an hour

swooping dozens of dams on it's way

18 hours later it reaches
the gulf of California

and for the first time in centuries,
the Colorado river meets the ocean

as a flood, not a stream

the release of the Colorado will
transform this part of north of America

fish from the ocean will come
to this estuary to spawn

a fast marsh, once one of the wonders
of the America's, will be revitalize

hundreds of species will find new home
as rivers and ocean combine

nature is reclaiming the world

in France, part of Paris are marsh again

in California, irrigated fields
have reverted to deserts

an Manhattan, is a forest

as altered rivers
return to their natural state,

silt create new land

coast line's change

southern New Orleans over 200 square miles
of swamp land reemerges

lost with humans dammed the Mississippi

our sudden disappearances affecting
the ocean too

once, we took 518 million pounds of fish
from the sea every day

now, with no trollers to catch them
fish live longer and grow bigger

Cod have tripled in size, growing from
just a foot or two, up to six feet

much larger creatures are also
recovering in our absence

whales are thriving after 200 years
without people

and they had a lot to recover from

before the petroleum industry,
whales were a major source

of oil for machines and lamps

most whales hunting declined
when humans started

extracting oil from the ground

but many species remain on the brink
of extinction for centuries to come

the reason, large modern ships

in our last 50 years on Earth
the number of ships worldwide doubled

so did the noise they generated

some of the sound from this vessels
carried for miles under the ocean

as a result, whales could no longer
hear each others mating calls

and they're rely on sound to find
mates up to a thousand miles away

with humans gone,
whales mating song are being heard

from Canada to the Caribbean

after 200 years, our impact here
is vanishing

the ocean once again teem with life

but our land, there are still
relics of humanity that remain

we built symbol of our power
when we rule the Earth

but how long were they last

which of our monuments will be
the first to fall

in a world without humans

it is now 230 years after humans disappear

few signs remain that an intelligent
created species once live here

one of the grandest
is also one of the world

most recognizable modern monuments

the Eiffel tower...

over a thousand feet tall
it was constructed in 1889

for a world exhibition and was meant
to be torn down 20 years later

but a French fell in love with the tower

and it became one of the most
famous landmark in the world

this 19th century marvel of construction
was design by bridge builders

and it's been standing now for centuries
outlast the even modern skyscrapers

the later structures gives the tower
strength without using much metal

and the entire tower weight just 7,300 tons

when people were still around
the Eiffel tower was covered

in 60 tons of paint to
protect it from the elements

but 230 years of weather
has taken it's toll

rain has fling away the paint

rust eats away at the tower's iron

with every rain storm, the entire structure
erodes and becomes more brittle

now the tower is vulnerable even
to moderate winds

normally, it's support beams can withstand
this wind, but now they're too weak

3 century after it's built
the tower comes crushing down

Paris's landscape changes forever...

monuments and buildings can't adapted
this new world

they're frozen by the technique
used to create them

but species can evolve as conditions change

here in the forest of Paris,
animals that we left behind have adapted

most of these pigs
are descendant of pink pigs

they thrive in the shadow
of the ruin of Eiffel tower

this feral pigs bred with
surviving domesticated ones

to create a hardy tough animal
with dark fur

they are survivors
in the new world without us

even while the modern world collapses
around them

those that adapt survive

another symbol of human's ingenuity
stands on the other side of the Atlantic

how is it change in the 230 years
since we vanished

the statue of Liberty was built in 1886
of massive copper plates

she's 3 years older than the Eiffel tower

since humans disappeared, some parts of her
are tearing better than before

acid rain used to eat
away at her skin

stripping her of 1 pound
of copper every year

pollution coded her nose and cheek
with black grain

but cleanest skies

have led to a cleanest statue

Liberty's skin has been afflicted
from the absence of humans

but other parts of her body haven't

over the centuries of forest
has grown up around her

and it's littered with copper plates

the plates are about as thick as 2 pennies
and can last a thousand years

so why is the statue of Liberty
loosing her skin

after 230 years, the statue's arm
has finally collapse

if copper is the statue skin,
iron bars are it's skeleton

and like the Eiffel tower,
this iron bars have rusted through

the shoulder bars became too weak
to hold up the arm and it's torch

now this symbol of freedom
is only visible to wild life

this statue's arm and torch
were first to fall

but that was just the beginning

more than 200 years have taken their toll
on some of most iconic monuments

it's only a matter of time
before they disappear... forever

signs of the human species
are becoming harder to find

in north America

the eastern half of the continent
is covered by immense forests

without us to cutting down,
trees have growing 90 feet tall

and blocking the sun light

but the trees do more than tower
above all suburbs and roads

they buried them

after 230 years, falling leafs have created
3 feet of new soil

and covered nearly everything
we left behind

occasionally, rains fall and streams
reveal the remains of human existence

this is all that's left of our home

centuries after the wooden being
and floors rotted away

plastics from modern houses
also litters the ground

this cellphone is still intact more than
200 years after the last phone call

it may survive for centuries

most metal have rusted through
but stainless steel is truly stainless

this kitchen sink may lasts
for thousands of years

but for animals to lasts,

some need to adapt

in the west, caribou and deer roam
over millions of acre of former farm land

and once again, so do the thunderous
hoofs of bison

their herds can grow by 30 % a year

from a species of a half of million
their numbers are now

reaching into the tens of millions

other creatures also adapt
the savannah of the American west

this vary beasts are the descendents
of millions of beef cattle

their ancestors mated it with highland cows
a breed insulated with fur, not fat

horses evolved here
long before humans arrive

and once again they run wild and free

in just 230 years, north America
has buried human homes

and loses some of the most price monuments

and time doesn't stop

so nothing can prevent
what a thousand years without us will break

1,000 years after every human
disappear from Earth

the iron of the Eiffel tower is almost gone

it has slowly eroded
and become part of the sand

in New York, the statue of Liberty
has fallen into the forest

her iron skeleton finally gave away
and her body collapse

but her pedestal, still tower
above the trees around it

made of solid concrete and granite
it will lasts thousands of years

but time can wipe away all
evidence of humanity

especially as the world turns colder

a new ice age grips the planet

gradual changes in the Earth's orbit
take it further from the sun

snow will stay on the ground
in northern cities for 2 summers in a row

then a chain reaction causes ice
to cover most of the northern hemisphere

it will stay here
for the next 100,000 years

once again, glaciers travel south
and eventually reach Manhattan

they'll grind down
what's left of the statue of Liberty

and then the other sign
of human civilization left in the north

but there is one place our imprint
will remain in definitely

the Moon

unlike Earth, the Moon's landscape
changes very slowly

craters more than 4 billion years old
are still preserve

along with some human artifacts

a car...

a television cam...

the only reminders of the human species
that will lasts for millions of years

aren't even found on Earth

planet Earth is 4.5 billion years old

in that context, human civilization
is just a blink of an eye

it took us 10,000 years to cut down
half of the world's forests

but after we disappeared,
they grow back in just 500 years

once, we used half of all fresh water

and change the course of half
of the world's major rivers

but some dam were washed away
in just 200 years

we pumped 13.5 billion tons of CO2
into the air each year

but in just a couple hundred years

plants and ocean were
scrubbing the Earth clean

it took just over a century
for our major cities to start crumbling

for forests and swarms, to cover
what was used to be concrete and asphalt

the planet was even able to handle
the nuclear legacy we left behind

after we disappeared, thousands of tons
of radioactive particle were released

but nature was able to bury most of it

and some animal species not only survive,

they thrived

Earth, is resilient

in time, it cleaned up
every mess we left behind

all we had to do,
was get out of the way

subtitle by seelenschneider