Population "0" - how would that effect planet earth?

[Technosoul]

If at this moment the human race vanished from planet earth what would become of our earth, what would it look like a few hundred years after the human population becomes zero ( assuming that happened for the sake of this debate ).

The reason I posted this is because they are going to do a speical on that topic (question) next Sunday on the History channel (number 101) at 8 oclock eastern time.

So you can give your answer now and then compare it with what they say next Sunday.

I think if would all depend on if we left behind all our nuclear plants and our other junk that we have made as human beings. Or if the that junk also vanished with the human population.

It is easy to imagine that the earth would become a jungle or something like that but we would be leaving behind a lot of things like ships full of crude oil, if only humans vanished and not all our stuff.

So what would happen if we vanished and our stuff was left behind? Would chickens suddenly beocome an endangered species?

We have created lots of seedless plants that cannot reproduce. That should have an effect I would think. What would be the future of watermellons?

What do you speuclate would happen on the planet by using your best scientific tools for thinking things out, if the human population suddenly was reduced to zero population - today.

[Rainbow]

Population "0" - how would that effect planet earth?

I do not think Homo Sapiens should be concerned that issue, at all, unless you mean the evolving process (to be repeated itself, again).
If "yes", then I would emerge as the first Homo Sapiens' representative and proclaim myself as the Solar System third planet Earth's President. Thank you :-)

[jumph1gh]

Quote by: Rainbow I do not think Homo Sapiens should be concerned that issue, at all, unless you mean the evolving process (to be repeated itself, again). If "yes", then I would emerge as the first Homo Sapiens' representative and proclaim myself as the Solar System third planet Earth's President. Thank you :-)

It's just a debate topic. Get over it and go along please. As for the threadstarter, if we all just abruptly disappeared, our precious house dogs would most likely die (poodles for example) and earth would slowly recover back from what we did to it.

[gallo]

Quote by: Technosoul If at this moment the human race vanished from planet earth what would become of our earth, what would it look like a few hundred years after the human population becomes zero ( assuming that happened for the sake of this debate ). The reason I posted this is because they are going to do a speical on that topic (question) next Sunday on the History channel (number 101) at 8 oclock eastern time. So you can give your answer now and then compare it with what they say next Sunday.

OK.

I think if would all depend on if we left behind all our nuclear plants and our other junk that we have made as human beings. Or if the that junk also vanished with the human population.

But that's the premise. Humans disappear and all of the stuff is left behind.

It is easy to imagine that the earth would become a jungle or something like that but we would be leaving behind a lot of things like ships full of crude oil, if only humans vanished and not all our stuff.

It would depend on whether the climate could support a jungle. Certainly, there would be no jungle in Alaska or the Great Plains or the Sahara.

So what would happen if we vanished and our stuff was left behind? Would chickens suddenly beocome an endangered species?

Since there are several species of wild chickens (jungle fowl) from which domestic chickens are derived, the answer is no, chickens wouldn't become extinct. However, most domestic animals would become extinct.

We have created lots of seedless plants that cannot reproduce. That should have an effect I would think. What would be the future of watermellons?

Most watermellons aren't seedless. Corn, on the other hand, would go extinct.

What do you speuclate would happen on the planet by using your best scientific tools for thinking things out, if the human population suddenly was reduced to zero population - today.

Too complex a question to answer here. Watch the show and think about whether they are correct.

[Compugasm]

Quote by: Technosoul What do you speuclate would happen...

Jesus will come back, and be like "WTF! Where is everyone? Hello.... HEEELLOOOO?"

[Rainbow]

Quote by: jumph1gh It's just a debate topic. Get over it and go along please.

Question :

Population "0" - how would that effect planet earth?

Homo Sapiens ceases its existence, and no longer manifests its presence within the Solar System's third planet Earth.
What is up for debate, then ? since None of Homo Sapiens' representative is physically present on that planet ?
That is none of Homo Sapiens concern.

What happens to Europe and/or Titan (for instance) ?
Who cares, since we dwell and/or inhabit none of them.

[Compugasm]

I'm actually glad to hear others say that this show was totally pointless. I've noticed over the past year, a number of programs are doing dramatic made for TV movies within their shows about furturistic predictions. For example, they have a physics professor like Machio Kaku explain growing needs of fuel consumption. Then, they cut to people who have carpooled to the grocery store, and a guy freaks out because his wife mentioned she was taking her friend somewhere the next day, and her friend never drives anywhere. So the guy peels out of the parking lot, ranting about gas prices, just as the other family is coming out of the store, leaving them there holding their groceries... WTF is this about?

[Muckraker]

Quote by: Compugasm I'm actually glad to hear others say that this show was totally pointless. I've noticed over the past year, a number of programs are doing dramatic made for TV movies within their shows about furturistic predictions. For example, they have a physics professor like Machio Kaku explain growing needs of fuel consumption. Then, they cut to people who have carpooled to the grocery store, and a guy freaks out because his wife mentioned she was taking her friend somewhere the next day, and her friend never drives anywhere. So the guy peels out of the parking lot, ranting about gas prices, just as the other family is coming out of the store, leaving them there holding their groceries... WTF is this about?

Agreed.

The History and Discovery channels have degraded into pure garbage that is on par with the E Channel's blitz of celebrity gossip. It seems like every time I flip to the History channel it is showing some crap about the Earth being hit by a meteor, the search for aliens, the search for Nessie, or what the apocalypse will be like.

The shows inundate us with pointless "experts" and then end with a lingering question that aims to keep you watching the somewhat related show that comes on right after it.

I think the MTV phenomenon is bleeding over into the History channel and the Discovery channel. MTV rarely plays actual music any more and if you want to watch what MTV used to be then you have to buy an extended cable package to get MTV2 or 3 or whatever it is currently. History and Discovery seem to be going that same route. People that want to watch actual history programming will soon need to buy Comcast Silver Elite Pro Plus Extended to get access to the History2 channel or something.

------------------------------

In response to the OP, small towns will look like ghost towns and will eventually be consumed in much the same way that abandoned colonial American towns are now simple foundations and foot-high rock walls. Large cities will also be consumed but skyscrapers will still be around for a long time like the Egyptian pyramids that survived the encroaching desert.

A lack of natural predators will mean that most of the "pest" animals will flourish, especially if the humans all died instead of vanishing. There also would be an extremely large number of feral cats and dogs that would become the impromptu predators and their population would grow exponentially as the "pest" population grows exponentially.

Most of the animals that humans had a hand in "creating" will simply die off as the current generation dies. The genetically modified turkey will die because the "plump breast" we endowed it with means it is unable to procreate on its own. The purebred British Bulldog will also die since our manipulation of its species requires them to be born via C-Section as their heads are too large to pass through the birth canal. The segregated locations of cows and bulls, and the hyper-domestication of them, would mean that domesticated bovines would also die out in generation one.

The world would be pretty messed up for a few hundred years but populations would top out at their food cap and new predators would eventually come onto the scene. These new predators would primarily be based off of feral dogs and cats and, with the explosion of their populations and the over consumption of their normal prey of small animals, I could see massive packs of dogs or cats forming to take down primarily unchecked populations of larger mammals, such as deer.

There will be a hell of a lot of deer. And rats...:)

[Mavus]

Actually quite an interest question. Some would say the biggest way to lower humanities carbon foot print would be to kill people.

It's an ironic ecological fact, but I doubt we will see a rise in eco-terrorists. It could only happen if you had individuals that loves earth more than humanity.

Talk about putting the 'mental' into evironmentalist

[Rainbow]

Quote by: Compugasm Jesus will come back, and be like "WTF! Where is everyone? Hello.... HEEELLOOOO?"

That is a good one. I gave me a looooong chuckle :-)))
(It should be included in "History of the world - Part II" , by Mel Brooks) :-)))

[Technosoul]

Quote by: gallo OK. But that's the premise. Humans disappear and all of the stuff is left behind. It would depend on whether the climate could support a jungle. Certainly, there would be no jungle in Alaska or the Great Plains or the Sahara. Since there are several species of wild chickens (jungle fowl) from which domestic chickens are derived, the answer is no, chickens wouldn't become extinct. However, most domestic animals would become extinct. Most watermellons aren't seedless. Corn, on the other hand, would go extinct. Too complex a question to answer here. Watch the show and think about whether they are correct.

You are right about watermellons, I forgot we have a choice between the two kinds. I wonder how much corn was around when it was in it's original (smaller) size? AKA - maze.

But those are perhaps tiny things relative to what the TV show might be about. Domestic dogs might run in packs and if one of them killed some prey, the rest would take part next time. So they have a chance at survival. We have lots of wild domestic cats. And some of the cattle that dwell in the deserts pretty much fend for their self. However I agree that domestic animals would be greatly reduced in numbers.

what would happen to the environment if nuclear plants were left un-attended? Anyway, it sounded like an interesting topic to me.

[Technosoul]

Quote by: Compugasm Jesus will come back, and be like "WTF! Where is everyone? Hello.... HEEELLOOOO?"

Sorry but we already determined that corn would vanish.

[Technosoul]

Quote by: Muckraker Agreed. The History and Discovery channels have degraded into pure garbage that is on par with the E Channel's blitz of celebrity gossip. It seems like every time I flip to the History channel it is showing some crap about the Earth being hit by a meteor, the search for aliens, the search for Nessie, or what the apocalypse will be like. The shows inundate us with pointless "experts" and then end with a lingering question that aims to keep you watching the somewhat related show that comes on right after it. I think the MTV phenomenon is bleeding over into the History channel and the Discovery channel. MTV rarely plays actual music any more and if you want to watch what MTV used to be then you have to buy an extended cable package to get MTV2 or 3 or whatever it is currently. History and Discovery seem to be going that same route. People that want to watch actual history programming will soon need to buy Comcast Silver Elite Pro Plus Extended to get access to the History2 channel or something. ------------------------------ In response to the OP, small towns will look like ghost towns and will eventually be consumed in much the same way that abandoned colonial American towns are now simple foundations and foot-high rock walls. Large cities will also be consumed but skyscrapers will still be around for a long time like the Egyptian pyramids that survived the encroaching desert. A lack of natural predators will mean that most of the "pest" animals will flourish, especially if the humans all died instead of vanishing. There also would be an extremely large number of feral cats and dogs that would become the impromptu predators and their population would grow exponentially as the "pest" population grows exponentially. Most of the animals that humans had a hand in "creating" will simply die off as the current generation dies. The genetically modified turkey will die because the "plump breast" we endowed it with means it is unable to procreate on its own. The purebred British Bulldog will also die since our manipulation of its species requires them to be born via C-Section as their heads are too large to pass through the birth canal. The segregated locations of cows and bulls, and the hyper-domestication of them, would mean that domesticated bovines would also die out in generation one. The world would be pretty messed up for a few hundred years but populations would top out at their food cap and new predators would eventually come onto the scene. These new predators would primarily be based off of feral dogs and cats and, with the explosion of their populations and the over consumption of their normal prey of small animals, I could see massive packs of dogs or cats forming to take down primarily unchecked populations of larger mammals, such as deer. There will be a hell of a lot of deer. And rats...:)

Yeah, like New York City at first would be rats, stay cats and dogs, and some pigons or other birds. But after a while wild animals that live in more wilderness areas would migrate into the abandoned city to take advantage of the man made structures, like an eagle building a nest on top of a tall building. I would imagine that after a while some of our man-made water systems would crumble, like dams, for a remapping of the water which would cause changes relative to wildlife and plants.

I never watch the history channel much so not sure if it will be junk programing or not, but they might mention something about global warming ending, being that this is a big topic nowadays.

Things would really change here in So California because the grass and many other trees survive because we water them everyday, so that all would change back to a desert like landscape with the native plants speading ( weeds would dominate perhaps). House cats would compete with hawks and owls and so forth.

A lot of the stuff we have like oil and other chemicals would leak and slowly flow into oceans causing a greater degree of toxic threat then they currently do, I would speculate.

Cities would get overgrown by vines and other plants in some areas and of course wind, earthquakes, and floods would take it toll on the weaker buildings. But they would be about the same as rock piles are in the wilderness, and animals would find ways to use them for their purposes.

And, by the way, there would no longer be pest animals as that is only a human concept, the mice will eat the weeds and so on up the ladder. And nature would balance out the food chain in time.

Hmm? what about when animals getting out of a zoo. (but many would die trapped in their cages). But something happened to set them free they might reproduce and create a new Africa right here in the USA. That would be neat.

[grandpa]

Quote by: Technosoul Yeah, like New York City at first would be rats, stay cats and dogs, and some pigons or other birds. But after a while wild animals that live in more wilderness areas would migrate into the abandoned city to take advantage of the man made structures, like an eagle building a nest on top of a tall building.

You remind me of the film 12 Monkeys.

Anyway, it probably wouldn't harm most animals. For example, with most domesticated dogs I doubt access to food would be cut off immediately. The earth would probably be refreshed, generally speaking. Of course, if you take such a position it seem to indicate you are Pro-Death (for humans), but seeing more thriving ecosystems seems quite likely. However, in fitting with the premise, no person would be around to see them standing tall.

Grandpa h.

[Morality Games]

The History and Discovery channels have degraded into pure garbage that is on par with the E Channel's blitz of celebrity gossip. It seems like every time I flip to the History channel it is showing some crap about the Earth being hit by a meteor, the search for aliens, the search for Nessie, or what the apocalypse will be like.

Engineering an Empire isn't bad, and there are some other shows on the History Channel worth checking out.

[Technosoul]

Quote by: grandpa You remind me of the film 12 Monkeys. Anyway, it probably wouldn't harm most animals. For example, with most domesticated dogs I doubt access to food would be cut off immediately. The earth would probably be refreshed, generally speaking. Of course, if you take such a position it seem to indicate you are Pro-Death (for humans), but seeing more thriving ecosystems seems quite likely. However, in fitting with the premise, no person would be around to see them standing tall. Grandpa h.

I agree that humans are the only speicies that cares what the earth looks like. We are the only ones who devote time to giving the bushes in our yard a haircut each month. Neat and trim, that's out motto.

Wanting healthy ecosystems is not being pro-death to the human race, it is being pro-change in how unwise humans are nowadays.

But you are correct, it would be a speuclation based on what the earth would be like without humans IF we could see it then, which is of course, impossible to do.

We can imagine that the USA would return to look like it did when only the Indians lived here. But it would not be just the same, most of the acorn trees have now vanished from California and would not be restored to what it was like before progress changed that landscape., But perhaps different kinds of trees (orange trees) would survive and spread?

If grape vines in California survived without humans they would spread and attract all kinds of fruit eating creatures that also might expand their population density.

The big changes would be in the clearness of the air and how far you could see, the stars would appear brighter. Noise would be reduced that is caused by car traffic and so forth, replaced with a whole new envronment of sounds, and things that we cannot hear in the distance would then be heard (by animals).

Over a very long time water would become pure again, and we would have more oxigen in the air. Wolves and other animals that do not like humans would have more turf to to migrate back into ( although man made fenses would be poblematic for a while relative to such migration).

The short term changes would be much different then the very long term changes. Because we got lots of poluting stuff stored away that would someday leak and cause big time changes in the ecosystems of that area. And it could take ages for that area to recover to what it was like in more ancient times.

As humans stopped our massive fishing in the oceans then endanged fish would recover and enjoy population growth which would create a chain reaction over-all.

Over a very long time domestic cats would evolve their final breed via evolutionary processes from what is now a large gene pool. Some dogs would do the same where cross breeding is possible. Of course, lots of dogs were fixed so they cannot take part in reproduction, so after the first generation died off we would have a smaller number to replace them on earth. (if human laws have been conformed too) - but not in every country.

Animals getting out of a Zoo on "doomsday" has always been a source of fantasy for me. But doubt if a large enough numbers of any given speices are in a zoo to make a lasting impression.

Now in my final speculation I do not think that all humans can vanish, perhaps in populated areas where we are concentrated together, but I think a few isolated tribes in the rainforest or on an island would remain here, but would have to live like animals do.

[Technosoul]

Quote by: Technosoul Yeah, like New York City at first would be rats, stay cats and dogs, and some pigons or other birds. But after a while wild animals that live in more wilderness areas would migrate into the abandoned city to take advantage of the man made structures, like an eagle building a nest on top of a tall building. I would imagine that after a while some of our man-made water systems would crumble, like dams, for a remapping of the water which would cause changes relative to wildlife and plants. I never watch the history channel much so not sure if it will be junk programing or not, but they might mention something about global warming ending, being that this is a big topic nowadays. Things would really change here in So California because the grass and many other trees survive because we water them everyday, so that all would change back to a desert like landscape with the native plants speading ( weeds would dominate perhaps). House cats would compete with hawks and owls and so forth. A lot of the stuff we have like oil and other chemicals would leak and slowly flow into oceans causing a greater degree of toxic threat then they currently do, I would speculate. Cities would get overgrown by vines and other plants in some areas and of course wind, earthquakes, and floods would take it toll on the weaker buildings. But they would be about the same as rock piles are in the wilderness, and animals would find ways to use them for their purposes. And, by the way, there would no longer be pest animals as that is only a human concept, the mice will eat the weeds and so on up the ladder. And nature would balance out the food chain in time. Hmm? what about when animals getting out of a zoo. (but many would die trapped in their cages). But something happened to set them free they might reproduce and create a new Africa right here in the USA. That would be neat.

I just watched the National Geographic Channel film about Population Zero that aired today.

They covered nearly everything I posted above and it was like I had written the script for the film here before they aired it on TV. Only they did a much better job of presenting it then I did, with more scientific data tossed in.

They even spent a lot of time talking about animals that escape the Zoos in the USA. Most of the movie focused on North America and France.

The two things mentioned that I did not think of is the cross-breeding of domestic dogs with wolves, which would create an new species.

And that domestic cats and mice could get into food stores and houses and live off the food we left behind for years. By the end of the film nature had pretty much covered over and biodegraded all evidence of human exsistance on earth. Our planet recovered from the all our human things that are distructive to look beautiful again. The only place where evidence of human intelligence remained in-tact was on the moon. (but they did not mention the pyramids in Eqypt).

It was a fun film to watch, somewhat educational.

The main fault I found is that it mentioned an ice age that would happen without explaining how that even is connected to vanishing of the human race. The film had some neat speical effects.

[Compugasm]

Quote by: Technosoul Our planet recovered from the all our human things that are distructive to look beautiful again.

Ah ha. Now I understand what the whole point of this show was all about. You're supposed to draw conclusions about how much damage humans are causing to the environment. Either it's not that bad, and the earth recovers quick. Or, by how long it takes to recover from what we've created. Very clever and subtle way to beat you over the head with the environment club. Bravo History Channel, but I'm on to you.

[Century 25]

Isn't this sort of like the "if a tree falls in the forest.." ? Since then, obviously, no one is here anymore.. what's the diff..?

At any rate, I'd say the animals.. insects.. flora, etc, would continue along rather well without us. Sure, the "pets" may suffer, and that is sad.

In the end.. the earth would recover - who knows.. maybe the dolphins will be the ultimate custodians.. it ain't us! We humans sure are humping this little planet to death.

[Technosoul]

Quote by: Morality Games Engineering an Empire isn't bad, and there are some other shows on the History Channel worth checking out.

My son had told me about it and when it would be on, but later when I went to view it I found out it was aired on the National Geographic Channel, not the History Channel. My error in not double checking to make sure, before posting.