Pardon me if I don’t get up. But “The World Without Us” has heaped so much guilt on me that I can’t.
What begins as a fascinating description of what would happen on Earth if suddenly all humans were gone (water would be the pioneer force that would work with others to bring down buildings, bridges and other constructions) goes on to describe all the ways humans are dreadful for the planet. We despoil, we destroy, we demand.
Many of author Alan Weisman’s examples of environmental havoc are from the U.S. (Add three boatloads of guilt; I live here.) He speaks of human-caused climate change (global warming is assumed) but describes weather cycles and cataclysms that long predated humans. (Subtract one boatload; I wasn’t here then.) Poor Texas! Houston’s Oil Patch gets plenty of attention for sucking resources and polluting the countryside. (Toss on two boatloads; I’m a native Texan.)
Now, I can hug a tree with almost the best of them. I don’t even kill spiders or snakes, though they scare me. And I don’t own cats, which Weisman says are nature’s serial killers. But 10 disks (12 hours, unabridged, Audio Renaissance, $39.95) of hearing how bad I am for Earth got me down, when the recording’s inconsistencies didn’t frustrate me.
I can’t blame reader Adam Grupper, whose solemn tones added appropriately to the gravity of the subject. (And environmental destruction is certainly a terrifying problem.)
I also don’t blame the author for my bleak state. I’m sure he doesn’t drive a car, use electricity, eat food from a grocery store, wear machine-made clothes or have treated water at his house. And I do.
Weisman’s point is important, and I’m happy to know that nature will reclaim the land and sea if we disappear. It couldn’t go to a better tenant.
But now? I need chocolate. Organic, please.
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