What would happen if every human suddenly disappeared? - Dan Kwartler

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

Human beings are everywhere.

人類無所不在。

With settlements on every continent,

在每塊大陸上都有人定居，

we can be found in the most isolated corners of Earth’s jungles,

人類的蹤跡甚至遍及地球上 最與世隔絕的角落，包括叢林、

oceans,

海洋，和凍原。

and tundras.

我們的影響非常深刻， 大部分科學家相信

Our impact is so profound, most scientists believe

humanity has left a permanent mark on Earth’s geological record.

人類在地球的地理紀錄上 留下了永久性的痕跡。

So what would happen if suddenly, every human on Earth disappeared?

所以，如果地球上的每個人

都突然消失了，會如何？

With no one maintaining them, some of our creations backfire immediately.

一些由人類創造出來的東西， 在沒人維護的情況下會立刻出事。

Hours after we disappear, oil refineries malfunction,

我們消失幾小時之後， 煉油廠會故障，

producing month-long blazes at plants like the ones in western India,

產生長達數月的火災，燒毀植物， 就像發生在西印度、

the southern United States,

美國南部，

and South Korea.

及南韓的狀況一樣。

In underground rail systems like those in London,

在地下的鐵路系統中， 像是在倫敦、

Moscow,

莫斯科，和紐約市的系統，

and New York City,

hundreds of drainage pumps are abandoned, flooding the tunnels in just three days.

數百個排水泵被棄之不顧，

三天之內隧道就會被水淹掉。

By the end of the first week, most emergency generators have shut down,

在第一週結束時，大部分 緊急發電機都會停止運作，

and once the fires have gone out,

一旦大火熄滅，

the earth goes dark for the first time in centuries.

地球將會數世紀以來 首次陷入一片黑暗。

After the first catastrophic month, changes come more gradually.

在災難性的第一個月之後， 改變會漸漸發生。

Within 20 years, sidewalks have been torn apart by weeds and tree roots.

二十年內，人行道會因為 雜草和樹根而四分五裂。

Around this time,

大約在這時，

flooded tunnels erode the streets above into urban rivers.

淹水的隧道會侵蝕到上方的街道， 將之變成城市河流。

In temperate climates,

在溫帶氣候區，

the cycle of seasons freezes and thaws these waterways,

四季循環會讓這些水道 結冰之後又融化，

cracking pavement and concrete foundations.

路面和混凝土地基會因而破裂。

Leaking pipes cause the same reaction in concrete buildings,

在混凝土建築物中， 破漏的管線也會造成同樣的反應，

and within 200 winters, most skyscrapers buckle and tumble down.

在兩百個冬天之內， 多數摩天大樓都會變形倒塌。

In cities built in river deltas like Houston,

在河流三角洲上的城市， 像是休士頓，

these buildings eventually wash away completely -

這些建築物最終會被完全沖走——

filling nearby tributaries with crushed concrete.

讓附近的支流滿是破碎的混擬土。

Rural and suburban areas decay more slowly,

鄉村和郊區的衰敗速度會比較慢，

but in largely unsurprising ways.

但衰敗方式大多 不會讓人感到意外。

Leaks, mold, bug and rodent infestations -

漏水、發霉、蟲害， 和囓齒目動物大量出沒——

all the usual enemies of the homeowner-

屋主最常見的所有敵人——

now go uncontested.

現在都無法無天了。

Within 75 years, most houses' supporting beams have rotted and sagged,

在七十五年內，大部分房子的 支柱會腐壞和下陷，

and the resulting collapsed heap is now home to local rodents and lizards.

造成許多房子倒塌， 成為當地囓齒目動物和蜥蜴的家。

But in this post-human world, “local” has a new meaning.

但在這個「後人類」世界， 「當地」這個詞有新的意義。

Our cities are full of imported plants,

我們的城市滿是外來的植物，

which now run wild across their adopted homes.

這些植物如今在收養它們的 家庭中放肆生長。

Water hyacinth coat the waterways of Shanghai in a thick green carpet.

上海水道表面滿是布袋蓮， 形成厚厚的綠色地毯。

Poisonous giant hogweeds overgrow the banks of London’s Thames River.

有毒的巨型猪草在倫敦 泰晤士河河岸過度生長。

Chinese Ailanthus trees burst through New York City streets.

臭椿長滿了紐約市街道。

And as sunken skyscrapers add crumbled concrete to the new forest floor,

下陷的摩天大樓，在新的 森林地面上增加了破碎的混擬土，

the soil acidity plummets,

土壤 pH 值降低 （也就是鹼性的程度減少），

potentially allowing new plant life to thrive.

可能會讓新的植物生命茂盛生長。

This post-human biodiversity extends into the animal kingdom, as well.

「後人類」的生物多樣性 也延伸到了動物王國裡。

Animals follow the unchecked spread of native and non-native plants,

動物會追循著本土與非本土 植物不受管制的散播，

venturing into new habitats with the help of our leftover bridges.

靠著剩下的橋樑協助， 冒險進入新居住地。

In general, our infrastructure saves some animals and dooms others.

一般來說，我們的基礎建設拯救了 一些動物，也害死了一些動物。

Cockroaches continue to thrive in their native tropical habitats,

蟑螂在牠們原生的 熱帶居住地依然很繁盛，

but without our heating systems,

但沒有我們的暖氣系統，

their urban cousins likely freeze and die out in just two winters.

牠們的都市堂兄弟姐妹很可能 會在兩個冬天之後就冷死而絕跡。

And most domesticated animals are unable to survive without us –

最習慣家庭生活的動物， 沒有我們就會無法生存——

save for a handful of resourceful pigs, dogs, and feral housecats.

除了一些很機智的 豬、狗，和變野的家貓。

Conversely, the reduced light pollution saves over a billion birds each year

反過來說，光害的減少 每年可以拯救超過十億隻鳥，

whose migrations were disrupted by blinking communication tower lights

過去牠們的遷移 會被用閃光溝通的燈塔

and high-tension wires.

及高拉力鋼線給打斷。

And mosquitos multiply endlessly in one of their favorite manmade nurseries –

蚊子在牠們最喜歡的 人造滋生地之一不斷繁殖——

rubber tires, which last for almost a thousand years.

橡膠輪胎，它們能使用近一千年。

As fauna and flora flourish,

隨著動物群和植物群繁盛，

Earth’s climate slowly recovers from millennia of human impact.

地球的氣候會漸漸從 數千年的人類影響中恢復。

Within 35,000 years,

在三萬五千年之內，

the plant cycle removes the last traces of lead

植物循環會清除掉 最後僅存的鉛痕跡，

left by the Industrial Revolution from Earth’s soil,

工業革命留在地球土壤中的鉛，

and it may take up to 65,000 years beyond that

還要花六萬五千年，

for CO2 to return pre-human levels.

二氧化碳才能回到 人類出現之前的狀態。

But even after several million years, humanity’s legacy lives on.

但即使是數百年之後， 人類的遺產還是會存留著。

Carved in unyielding granite,

美國拉什莫爾山上

America’s Mt. Rushmore survives for 7.2 million years.

堅硬花崗岩的雕刻 能夠存活七百二十萬年。

The chemical composition of our bronze sculptures

我們的銅像，會因為其化學成份，

keeps them recognizable for over 10 million.

在超過一千萬年之後 仍然可辨視得出來。

And buried deep underground,

深埋在地底下，

the remnants of cities built on floodplains

建在泛濫平原上的城市的遺跡，

have been preserved in time as a kind of technofossil.

未來會被保存下來 成為某種技術化石。

Eventually, these traces, too, will be wiped from the planet’s surface.

最終，這些痕跡也還是會 被從地球表面上抹除。

Humanity hasn’t always been here, and we won’t be here forever.

人類並非一直存在於地球上， 也不可能會永遠存在下去。

But by investigating the world without us,

但，藉由探究沒有人類的世界，

perhaps we can learn more about the world we live in now.

也許我們能對我們現在 所居住的世界了解更多。