guardian.co.uk: It is the water that has the first impact. Take away people and the pumps that prevent our cities’ underground railways and tunnels from flooding stop working. Within a day of humanity’s disappearance, the world’s metros fill up with fetid water. Then the animals break out of zoos and lions roam the streets before emergency cooling circuits on nuclear power plants fail, causing radioactive plumes to spread.

It is an apocalyptic vision worthy of a science fiction film. In fact, these scenes form part of a startling new documentary, Life After People, that is to be shown on the History Channel over the Easter weekend. In addition, the book The World Without Us by Alan Weisman, which follows a similar Earth-without-humans theme, has become a surprise US bestseller. Last week the National Geographic Channel screened its version of the book, Aftermath: Population Zero, in the US. [ read more ]