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00:00What would happen if every human being on Earth disappeared?
00:10This isn't the story of how we might vanish.
00:15It is the story of what happens to the world we leave behind.
00:23In this episode of Life After People,
00:26the 1.5 billion homes that house mankind are all in a race to survive.
00:33But each faces a different enemy.
00:36No matter where you live or what you keep inside,
00:41life after people hits home.
00:44Welcome to Earth. Population zero.
00:56One day after people.
01:11These are the places that man called home.
01:15Where families were raised.
01:18Meals were shared.
01:20And people grew old.
01:21In America's vast suburbs alone,
01:2723 million homes now stand empty.
01:34Including those in the town that invented American suburbia.
01:41Levittown, New York.
01:42Built during the post-World War II baby boom
01:47and fueled by America's love affair with the car,
01:51Levittown pioneered a new type of suburban living
01:54that took America by storm.
01:57These mass-produced, prefabricated houses
02:00quickly multiplied into vast subdivisions.
02:03And by the year 2000,
02:07for the first time in history,
02:10half of all Americans lived in suburbs.
02:14Levittown really fed the imagination of Americans
02:17for clean air,
02:20places where you could raise your kids in safety.
02:23Now, this classic prototype of suburbia
02:29is devoid of people,
02:32but not of explosive danger.
02:36Because in kitchens and hot water heaters everywhere,
02:39the gas is still on.
02:44In the time of humans,
02:46most American homes were heated by natural gas.
02:49The highly flammable methane
02:53was pumped from naturally pressurized wells
02:55through 2.2 million miles
02:59of underground pipelines and compressors.
03:03But disaster sometimes erupted
03:06from this massive subterranean network.
03:10Natural gas lines typically are ruptured
03:13because mankind intervenes with them.
03:16They dig up a pipe and rupture the pipe
03:18and causes a failure in the structural integrity.
03:22The fires can be very catastrophic
03:25because you're blowing methane gas
03:27into the air and it's mixing,
03:29and you've got a very large blowtorch going on there.
03:33Now, natural pressure from the wells
03:36is enough to keep gas flowing into kitchens
03:39that will never see another meal.
03:42In a life after people,
03:44the gas isn't going to stop flowing.
03:46It's still under pressure.
03:49It's flowing through the lines,
03:50and it's still going to come to the houses.
03:52The pilot lights are going to continue to burn.
03:56Natural gas has no smell,
03:58but a substance called mercaptan
04:00was added to give it a distinctive odor
04:02that could alert people to leaks.
04:07Still, gas leaks cause 2,500 home fires
04:11and explosions each year,
04:13which killed dozens and injured hundreds.
04:18Now, people are gone,
04:21but leaks still occur.
04:23The best detector for a gas leak is your nose.
04:26But in life after people,
04:28there will be nobody around to smell it.
04:32And then all you need is a spark.
04:35The stove's pilot light provides the spark.
04:41And this kitchen is toast.
04:43One week after people,
04:55stately homes face an entirely different enemy.
04:59On New York's Central Park,
05:01the luxurious San Remo apartments
05:04look down on a Manhattan
05:05devoid of man.
05:08In the time of humans,
05:21San Remo's apartments sold
05:22for up to $20 million.
05:25The building is a prestige building.
05:28Apartments in the San Remo are huge.
05:32Now, the elite have moved out
05:35and catastrophe is about to move in.
05:38A catastrophe that stems from a material
05:43that epitomized luxury.
05:47The danger emanates from a high-end paint
05:50with an unusual ingredient.
05:52Many of the owners in the San Remo
05:54have chosen to use paints
05:57that were made with linseed oil
06:00rather than with a solvent that evaporates.
06:04It provides this beautiful, glossy sheen,
06:07and it takes color very, very well.
06:11What happens when you're a painter?
06:14You leave the rags
06:16on the can of linseed oil paint.
06:19If it's just overnight,
06:21it doesn't matter.
06:22But after people,
06:24those rags are time bombs.
06:26As linseed oil interacts with oxygen in the air,
06:32the chemical reaction produces heat.
06:35Without adequate ventilation,
06:37spontaneous combustion can occur.
06:40In the time of humans,
06:42this was a common cause of household fires.
06:45In 1991, cotton rags soaked with linseed oil
06:49triggered a massive blaze
06:51in a Philadelphia high-rise.
06:53Now, at the San Remo,
06:56the paint soap rags are smoldering.
07:00This New York icon
07:02is turning into a different kind of hot property.
07:06Over in the Bronx
07:14stands the mirror opposite
07:15of the swanky San Remo.
07:19Co-op City,
07:20one of the nation's largest apartment complexes
07:23crammed with 55,000 residents,
07:26epitomized the cheaply constructed high-rises
07:29of the 1960s.
07:31This was badly constructed in the first place.
07:34Given the history of these structures,
07:37it really only takes 10 or 15 years after people
07:41for major parts of the structure to begin failing.
07:47Co-op City's 50,000 pilings face a daunting enemy.
07:53They're sunk into reclaimed tidal marshland,
07:55which sinks a fraction of an inch each year.
08:00The ground around the columns
08:04is slowly sinking.
08:07So what you have
08:08is a pavement area
08:11where you see the curb stone
08:13isn't tied to the rest of the building at all,
08:15and it's already significantly below
08:18what the original building line was.
08:20The San Remo and Co-op City
08:25represent polar opposites
08:27in apartment engineering.
08:29One will be marred by fire
08:31in a life after people.
08:33Will the other face death by water?
08:36One month after people.
08:46Methane in its gaseous state
08:48is not the only threat to the former homes of man.
08:53Another form of fuel,
08:55and one of mankind's coldest substances,
08:58is ominously warming up.
09:00Liquefied natural gas
09:03is the liquid version of methane gas.
09:07If you take methane gas
09:08and cool it down
09:09to about minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit,
09:12it becomes a liquid.
09:14The reason for using
09:15liquefied natural gas
09:17is for ease of transportation.
09:19Since the volume is so much less,
09:21600 times less, say,
09:23then you can fill a truck
09:25or a ship with liquid natural gas
09:27and carry much more of it
09:30on a smaller vessel.
09:31If the liquid heats up,
09:33it becomes a gas again.
09:34And once the concentration
09:36in the air reaches 5%,
09:38it can become one of the most
09:40explosive substances on Earth.
09:43Liquefied natural gas,
09:45once it's stored in a tank,
09:47could be very explosive,
09:49much more so than other forms
09:51of fossil fuel.
09:52When it mixes with air,
09:53then you have a very volatile
09:56explosive ability,
09:58and it can destroy
09:59many city blocks
10:00with one explosion.
10:02Now, with no humans
10:04to continuously open
10:05and close valves
10:06to maintain proper pressure,
10:08these tanks
10:10have become ticking time bombs.
10:13Then the gas starts to expand,
10:15and you reach a pressure
10:17that the tanks weren't designed for,
10:19and it can be very devastating.
10:23One by one,
10:24they rupture
10:25in a catastrophic chain reaction.
10:35One year after people,
10:39man's once-beloved suburban homes
10:41face a new set of enemies.
10:43Over the winter,
10:49pipes in each house
10:50freeze and burst.
10:53With the spring thaw,
10:56fountains of liquid destruction
10:57gush from thousands of pipes.
11:00That day would be
11:02a rough day
11:03on the structure
11:04of Levittown itself.
11:06After the flooding
11:08comes the mold
11:09and dry rot.
11:12The dampness also attracts
11:14the twin scourges
11:15of wooden homes,
11:18carpenter ants,
11:19and termites.
11:21And the presence of both
11:23sets the scene
11:24for a primordial battle
11:26hidden within the rotting walls.
11:30Carpenter ants
11:30will take termites.
11:32They'll prey on them.
11:33Termites protect themselves
11:35both from water loss
11:36and from predators
11:37by kind of walling off
11:38their galleries
11:39and feeding tubes with mud.
11:41And if that was breached,
11:43yes, the ants
11:44would go to prey on them.
11:46The termite would lose.
11:47They've got no way
11:48of defending themselves.
11:49It's two years
11:58after people
11:58and one type of home
12:01has already vanished
12:02from the earth.
12:04Igloos were built
12:05in the Arctic
12:06for centuries,
12:07made from blocks
12:08of compressed snow.
12:10But these structures
12:12are hardly frozen in time.
12:14In cold Arctic climates,
12:16snow doesn't really melt.
12:18it evaporates.
12:21The ice that's in the snow
12:23goes directly
12:24from being a solid
12:25to being a gas.
12:28Now,
12:29after just two years,
12:31the very last igloo
12:32has wafted
12:33into the frigid Arctic sky
12:35and igloos are no more.
12:39In the next few years
12:41after people,
12:43mankind's most prized mementos
12:45face an inevitable fade-out.
12:48And the world's
12:50tallest skyscraper
12:51gets a foreclosure notice
12:52from nature.
13:01Ten years after people,
13:04around the world,
13:06the places where mankind
13:07once lived
13:08now struggle against
13:11the returning wrath
13:12of nature.
13:13The tallest home on earth
13:15is no exception.
13:18This is the Burj Khalifa
13:20in the desert kingdom
13:21of Dubai.
13:22When completed in 2010,
13:25it became the world's
13:26tallest skyscraper
13:27and it's home
13:28to over 1,000 private apartments,
13:31some as high
13:32as the 108th floor.
13:34The Burj Khalifa
13:36is over 2,700 feet tall.
13:39That's twice the height
13:41of the Empire State Building.
13:42You can see that building
13:43from over 95 kilometers away.
13:46Staring blankly
13:48over a humid,
13:49salt-drenched wasteland,
13:50the building is in desperate
13:53need of a bath.
13:56In the time of humans,
13:58huge bucket machines
14:00weighing 13 tons
14:01were used to wash
14:03the exterior
14:03in a desperate race
14:05to prevent corrosion
14:06from Dubai's
14:07dense, salty humidity.
14:10These devices
14:11are suspended by cables.
14:14They are a potential
14:16point of failure,
14:17especially if they're
14:19already filled
14:20with fluid.
14:22Dangling hundreds
14:23of feet in the air,
14:25they haven't scrubbed
14:26the building
14:26in a decade
14:27and it shows.
14:29The window washing machines
14:30are very heavy
14:31and the cables
14:33would likely fail
14:35over 5 or 10 years.
14:39One of the massive buckets
14:40breaks loose.
14:47And swan dives
14:492,000 feet
14:50to the desert below.
15:0315 years after people.
15:07High in the Hollywood Hills,
15:09an iconic house
15:10whose revolutionary engineering
15:12came to symbolize
15:13the California lifestyle
15:14of the 1960s
15:16is still intact.
15:19The Stahl house
15:20was built entirely
15:22of glass and steel
15:23on a lot so steep
15:25that many considered
15:26it unbuildable.
15:29Owner Bud Stahl
15:30disagreed
15:31and spent 2 years
15:32personally constructing
15:34the concrete terraces
15:35that continue
15:36to anchor the house
15:37on its dramatic cliff.
15:39It's a region vulnerable
15:42to catastrophic mudslides.
15:47Now, untamed wildfires
15:50ravage Los Angeles
15:51but the house
15:53refuses to burn down.
15:56The plate glass
15:57would crack in fire
15:58but the steel framework
16:00remains in pretty good shape.
16:03But by destroying
16:04the vegetation
16:05that binds the soil,
16:07the fires have cleared
16:08a new avenue
16:09of destruction.
16:13200 miles north,
16:15one of America's
16:16most lavish homes
16:18has an engineering secret
16:19that may keep it
16:21standing tall
16:22in a life after people.
16:24This is Hearst Castle,
16:27built for publishing tycoon
16:29William Randolph Hearst
16:30in San Simeon, California.
16:34Hearst Castle
16:35is one of six homes
16:36that Mr. Hearst had.
16:37this was his most beloved.
16:40Begun in 1919,
16:43Hearst's showplace
16:44was considered
16:45a masterpiece
16:46of earthquake-resistant design.
16:50Architect Julia Morgan's technique
16:52was to build ceilings
16:54that hang
16:54from hidden anchors
16:56and boxes.
16:57They're separated
16:57from the rooms they cover.
16:59So they float
17:00during a quake.
17:03The outdoor pool
17:04at Hearst Castle
17:05referred to
17:06as the Neptune Pool.
17:07There's a concrete box
17:09surrounding it.
17:10The suspension of the pool
17:11is like the suspension
17:12of the ceilings
17:13in all of the rooms.
17:15They bear no weight.
17:18And so in an earthquake,
17:20the ceilings
17:20will actually float.
17:22And it's just
17:23the same as the pool.
17:25The structure around it
17:27is actually taking
17:28the brunt
17:29of whatever comes along.
17:30In 2003,
17:35a 6.5 earthquake
17:37struck the castle,
17:38putting Morgan's
17:39construction methods
17:40to the test.
17:42We had 400 visitors
17:45in the main house,
17:46Casa Grande.
17:48Not one bit
17:49of structural damage.
17:53But there is another secret
17:55about Hearst Castle.
17:56Julia Morgan
17:59produced the castle cement
18:01right on the site.
18:04Hearst Castle
18:04was built
18:05of reinforced concrete.
18:07They had their own plant
18:08here on the hilltop.
18:09They imported sand,
18:10but they also used
18:12the beach sand.
18:13In the centuries
18:14after people,
18:15will the decision
18:16to use beach sand
18:17keep the castle standing?
18:22Or will it lead
18:24to the downfall
18:25of this massive
18:2656-bedroom home?
18:31In suburban homes
18:32across America,
18:34a new breed of cat
18:35is moving in.
18:37Bobcats.
18:39Looking for places
18:40to make their dens.
18:43They'll certainly
18:44move into the abandoned houses
18:46and the closets
18:47of those abandoned houses
18:48to set up a den.
18:49And so you might
18:50very well find a cat
18:51making a den
18:52in your underwear.
18:53This has happened before.
18:57In 2008,
18:59after a wave
18:59of home foreclosures
19:01hit America,
19:02bobcats wasted no time
19:04moving into vacated houses.
19:07As they move
19:08into the former homes
19:09of man,
19:10bobcats
19:11and other home invaders
19:12begin to feed
19:13an invisible monster.
19:16A tiny pest
19:17once fed by people
19:18and their constant supply
19:21of human skin.
19:24House dust mites
19:25are very tiny little mites.
19:27They feed on skin flakes.
19:30You replace the outer surface
19:31of your skin
19:32every couple of days,
19:33so little flakes
19:34are constantly falling off,
19:35and that's what they feed on.
19:38Now,
19:39they will feed on
19:40the dander of the bobcat
19:41and its legion
19:42of new roommates.
19:45Another human scourge,
19:47the bed bug,
19:48won't lose any sleep
19:49over humanity's disappearance.
19:52A bed bug
19:52is a small,
19:53true bug.
19:55It doesn't feed on
19:55anything else
19:56except blood.
19:58And bed bugs
19:59will go back
20:00to being parasites
20:00of birds and bats,
20:02basically.
20:02Across the deserted planet,
20:08all houses are decaying.
20:12But it was not
20:14the structures themselves.
20:15It was the treasures
20:17inside them
20:18that made these buildings
20:20into homes.
20:22Which human possessions
20:24will endure?
20:26The first to go
20:28is anything made of paper.
20:32Paper's made of cellulose
20:35or cellulose fiber.
20:37And it's absorbent.
20:38And when it absorbs moisture,
20:40you have the perfect condition
20:41for decay or decomposition.
20:47Natural fabrics
20:48are also beginning
20:49their inevitable unraveling.
20:52Wool doesn't retain moisture,
20:55so it's safe from rot.
20:56But it's hardly off the hook.
20:58It has enemies as well.
21:00It has larvae,
21:01the case-making moth.
21:03Larva love wool.
21:05Wool's going to ultimately go
21:06maybe 30, 40 years.
21:10Leather may seem
21:12more durable.
21:14In the time of humans,
21:16archaeologists sometimes
21:18unearthed leather shoes
21:19up to 2,000 years old,
21:21preserved in oxygen-deprived
21:23environments like peat
21:24and mud.
21:25But for most shoes,
21:27it's an inevitable march
21:29to oblivion.
21:30What will be left
21:31is the steel grommets
21:33that you ran
21:34your shoelaces through,
21:35the plastic tip
21:36off the cotton laces,
21:37and maybe the hard rubber sole.
21:39They'll be around
21:40for 50, 60, 100 years,
21:42but your leather's
21:43going to be long gone.
21:44In living rooms and dens,
21:49household furniture
21:50is hardly sitting pretty.
21:53The laminate on the particle
21:55board will become unglued
21:56either through moisture exchange
21:58or through exposure to the sun.
22:00That laminate will peel away
22:02and accelerate the decomposition
22:04or the decay
22:04of the particle board inside.
22:07Even durable trophies
22:09are losing the race
22:10against time.
22:11Trophies are primarily
22:14made of plastic,
22:16formed plastic.
22:18The thin, shiny,
22:20gold or silver laminate
22:21will begin to peel
22:22or delaminate.
22:24CDs and DVDs
22:26are useless husks.
22:29The polycarbonate
22:29will delaminate
22:30from that metal base
22:32and begin to crumble.
22:34And like most metals,
22:36the metals will begin
22:37to oxidize.
22:37But of all the objects
22:42in a home,
22:44perhaps the most treasured
22:45were photographs.
22:48Photos printed
22:49on cheap commercial paper
22:50have already rotted away,
22:53largely due to the corrosive
22:55acids present in wood pulp.
22:58More expensive,
22:59professional-grade photos
23:00will last longer,
23:03printed on paper,
23:03treated with chemicals
23:04that neutralize the acids.
23:06They are more resistant
23:10to rot,
23:11but eventually succumb
23:12to water damage
23:13and mold.
23:18But some of history's
23:20most important photos
23:21may be saved.
23:24Deep beneath
23:25western Pennsylvania,
23:27one of the world's
23:28largest photo collections
23:30remains in sharp focus.
23:32In 2001,
23:35the Corbis Archive
23:36moved its treasure trove
23:38of 11 million photos
23:39to a refrigerated mine
23:41near Butler, Pennsylvania.
23:44There,
23:45priceless images
23:46of history are protected.
23:48The Hindenburg Explosion,
23:50a playful Albert Einstein,
23:53and prize-winning photos
23:57of the pop stars
23:58and politicians,
24:00the scientists,
24:01the humanitarians,
24:03the wars and disasters
24:04that defined
24:06the modern era.
24:07all were stored
24:10at minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit.
24:14At minus 4 degrees,
24:15pretty much all
24:16the chemical activity
24:17in a picture stops,
24:19and a picture
24:20that would fade
24:20in 30 to 70 years
24:22and be totally unreadable
24:24could last 5,000 years.
24:26Whether it's a trailer park
24:31or a luxury tower,
24:3530 years has taken
24:36a terrible toll
24:37on the homes of man,
24:39and the worst
24:40is yet to come.
24:42How do we know this?
24:45It's a future
24:46that's already happened
24:47at one of the most
24:48mysterious spots on Earth.
24:52This Italian hill town
24:54once bore witness
24:56to a dark
24:57and sinister history
24:59until man disappeared.
25:10It's 60 years
25:12into a life after people.
25:15Across the planet,
25:18nature's relentless
25:19home invasion
25:20confronts every former shelter
25:22and community
25:23with catastrophic threats.
25:30Like those that created
25:32the eerie ruins
25:33of Balestrino.
25:41This ancient Italian hill town
25:44survived a dark
25:45and tortured past,
25:47but could not survive
25:49the shifting Earth
25:50beneath its walls.
25:51If the stones of Balestrino
26:01could talk,
26:03they'd tell a story
26:04of 700 years
26:05of the rise and fall
26:06of a community.
26:08The story of a town
26:09teetering on the brink
26:10of collapse
26:12over many centuries,
26:14but surviving
26:15because man
26:16has used its intellect
26:19and ingenuity
26:20to keep it surviving.
26:24Beneath this once
26:25picturesque village
26:27lies an ancient legacy
26:29of brutality
26:30and oppression.
26:34Here,
26:36in this decaying courtyard,
26:38the lords of Balestrino
26:40once meted out
26:41barbaric punishments
26:42to anyone
26:43who challenged
26:44their cruel dominion.
26:52One of the most
26:55common penalties
26:56was just to hang people
26:57with their wrists
26:58behind their back
26:59so that in time
26:59the shoulders broke
27:01and the victim
27:02would not be able to work
27:03and would die of starvation.
27:10From the 1400s onward,
27:12the town was ruled
27:14by feudal lords
27:15who treated
27:17the impoverished townspeople
27:18like slaves.
27:22The Marquis was a tyrant,
27:25an absolute owner
27:26of the people
27:26and the place.
27:28He owned the ovens,
27:29the water,
27:30the streams around the area,
27:31and all that was connected
27:33with the food
27:33for the people
27:34depended on him.
27:39Balestrino's feudal history
27:41planted the seeds
27:42of its physical collapse.
27:46Since the feudal lords
27:47reserved the best
27:48building materials
27:49for themselves,
27:51residents had to make do
27:53with whatever
27:54they could find.
27:57This reveals a lot
27:58about the construction
27:59of these buildings,
28:00the external skin
28:02of this wall
28:03has fallen away
28:04and revealed
28:04the underlying construction.
28:07I can see
28:07different types of stone
28:08incorporated into the wall,
28:10what looks like sandstone,
28:12limestone,
28:14bits of brick,
28:15tiles,
28:16anything that was available
28:17to the builders,
28:18they've incorporated in
28:19and cemented it in
28:21with a loose lime mortar.
28:22And when the area's
28:26frequent earthquakes
28:27damaged fragile homes,
28:29residents again
28:30had to make do.
28:35What we have here
28:37is a room
28:37with a double vaulted roof,
28:40but at some time
28:40in its history,
28:42it's developed a crack
28:43right along the center,
28:45and they've tried
28:46to repair
28:47and stabilize
28:48that crack
28:49by putting in
28:50this tie
28:51from side to side
28:52and tighten it up.
28:55Originally,
28:56this was an arched opening.
28:58You can see
28:58the arched stones here,
29:00but at a later date,
29:02it's been plastered over
29:03and a simple
29:05rectangular framing
29:06put in,
29:06but look at the crack.
29:08In time,
29:09that's going to get
29:10worse and worse,
29:11and already,
29:12you can see
29:12the framing
29:13is close to failure.
29:15The modern age
29:20brought Balestrino
29:21freedom from
29:22the cruel grasp
29:23of tyranny,
29:24but not
29:26the iron grasp
29:27of nature.
29:28The buildings
29:30are built
29:30on the slopes.
29:32Now,
29:32if those slopes
29:32are susceptible
29:33to landslips
29:34and movements,
29:35then so will
29:36the buildings be.
29:37Unstable soil
29:39and Italy's
29:40susceptibility
29:41to devastating earthquakes
29:42compounded
29:44the problems
29:45of the town's
29:46makeshift construction.
29:50In 1997,
29:52an earthquake
29:53in Assisi,
29:54200 miles away,
29:56provided a stark
29:57reminder
29:57of the threat
29:58lurking beneath
29:59Italy's
30:00sun-drenched landscape.
30:03Even the famed
30:04Basilica of St. Francis
30:06provided no sanctuary.
30:11Fearful that even worse
30:12could happen
30:13on Balestrino's
30:14failing hillsides.
30:16The town was
30:17abandoned
30:17in the 1950s.
30:20The Italian government
30:21evacuated all homes
30:23and built
30:24a newer,
30:24safer village
30:25nearby.
30:28Since then,
30:29Balestrino's
30:30slow slide
30:31to ruin
30:32bears testimony
30:34to the impermanence
30:36of the works
30:37of man.
30:37If armies
30:43of the past
30:44failed to conquer
30:45Balestrino,
30:46nature's now
30:47winning the battle.
30:51In the mere
30:5260 years
30:53since people
30:54were banished
30:54from Balestrino,
30:56catastrophic failure
30:57radiates
30:58in every direction.
31:03This used
31:04to be a street,
31:05a thoroughfare
31:05through the town.
31:07And what's happened
31:08here is this entire
31:09gable wall
31:10has collapsed,
31:12creating the rubble.
31:14And even the tie bars
31:16that are a common feature
31:17of the stabilization measures
31:19for these buildings
31:20haven't been strong enough
31:22to prevent
31:23the whole wall
31:24collapsing
31:25into the street.
31:26today,
31:30streets that echoed
31:31with children's laughter
31:32now echo only
31:35with the bleeding
31:35of stray goats.
31:39Ubaldo Pastorino
31:41grew up
31:42in Balestrino.
31:42I can recall
31:49the happiest memories
31:50of my life.
31:52My father
31:52shaving on the balcony,
31:54my grandmother
31:55giving us dried figs.
31:57It's a pity
31:58because now
31:59everything is in ruins.
32:01It makes me sad.
32:02Malinconico,
32:03questo.
32:08Even today
32:08there are signs
32:09that the hillside
32:10is still on the move.
32:11and in the long run
32:12it'll be nature
32:14that wins the battle
32:15and the hillside
32:16will overcome
32:17once again
32:18the town of Balestrino
32:20leaving little sign
32:21of what has been there
32:22for centuries.
32:25The decline
32:26and fall
32:27of Balestrino
32:28bears mute testimony
32:30to the impermanence
32:31of every home
32:32on the planet.
32:35In the next
32:36centuries after people
32:38an icon
32:39of California's
32:41sunny lifestyle
32:41prepares to surf
32:43down a cliff base
32:45and a different
32:47kind of surf
32:47spells doom
32:49for New York's
32:50co-op city.
32:5175 years after people
33:01California's stall house
33:03built entirely
33:05of glass and steel
33:06teeters precariously
33:08on its fire blasted
33:10rain eroded hillside.
33:11I think a house like that
33:14could potentially
33:15sit in a tilted position
33:18for some time
33:19but not
33:20not for a great
33:21length of time
33:22because
33:23you're going to have
33:24all sorts of things
33:25shifting
33:25and as things
33:27shift
33:28forces are changed.
33:35Now
33:35a particularly
33:36heavy downpour
33:38washes out
33:38a final section
33:39of sediment
33:40beneath the house
33:41and one of the
33:4520th century's
33:46most iconic
33:47homes
33:48slides down
33:50the hill
33:50crashing the party
33:53on the once
33:54fabled sunset
33:55strip below.
33:56100 years after people
34:05water has attacked
34:07New York's
34:08co-op city
34:09from above
34:10and below.
34:11These flat roofs
34:13drain to the inside
34:14to internal drains
34:15so the water
34:17has no place else
34:18to go
34:19it's going to drain
34:19through those leaks.
34:21Once it starts
34:21doing that
34:22it invades
34:23the insulation
34:24underneath
34:24meanwhile
34:27the sinking land
34:28has reverted
34:29to tidal mudflats
34:30and co-op city
34:32resembles
34:33an apocalyptic
34:34Venice.
34:35The area
34:36of the building
34:37that is in this
34:37in the splash zone
34:38where waves
34:39are hitting it
34:40or the water level
34:41is rising
34:41and lowering
34:42with the tide
34:43that splash zone
34:45is where
34:46it's going to fail.
34:52A massive winter storm
34:54blows in
34:54from the northeast.
34:57It's the nor'easter
34:58that would really
34:59do you in.
35:01You would get
35:02a fair amount
35:02of wave pounding
35:03against the building
35:05itself.
35:05That would begin
35:06to displace
35:07the building.
35:09The weakened
35:10splash zone buckles
35:12under the nor'easter's
35:13assault
35:13and the former homes
35:17of 55,000 New Yorkers
35:19are swallowed
35:20by the shifting tides.
35:21200 years
35:40after people.
35:42The landscape
35:44around Hearst Castle
35:45looks surprisingly
35:46unchanged
35:47from the time
35:48of humans.
35:50But strange intruders
35:52grazed the hills.
35:55Here at Hearst Castle,
35:56Mr. Hearst
35:57had the largest
35:57private zoo
35:58in the world.
35:59On 2,000 acres,
36:01the guests
36:01would come through
36:02a 2,000 acre,
36:04you'd call it a paddock,
36:05and he had every animal
36:06you could imagine.
36:08In the 21st century,
36:11zebras could still
36:12be seen grazing
36:13in the pastures
36:14below the castle.
36:15Some will survive
36:17in a life
36:18after people.
36:19The African plains
36:20are very similar.
36:22So zebras might
36:23proliferate
36:24because there's
36:24lots of grassy areas
36:26for them to eat
36:27and to actually
36:28have proper nutrition.
36:30But boy,
36:30the cats are going
36:32to come right in
36:32and be wanting
36:33some of those zebras.
36:41The castle itself
36:43has survived
36:44numerous earthquakes
36:45thanks to architect
36:47Julia Morgan's
36:48innovative design.
36:51But now,
36:52her decision
36:53to use beach sand
36:54in the concrete
36:55has become a dagger
36:57at the heart
36:57of Hearst Castle.
37:00The salt
37:02from the sand
37:03that was used
37:04to mix
37:05and make the concrete
37:06is probably going
37:08to be the major cause
37:10of its downfall
37:11because the salts
37:12are continually
37:14being pushed
37:15deeper and deeper
37:17into the foundations
37:19of the castle
37:20through the moisture
37:21and as that dries
37:23and it crystallizes,
37:24it just continues
37:25to grow and grow
37:25and that just pushes
37:26things apart.
37:28In the time
37:29of humans,
37:30this was barely noticeable.
37:33But over centuries,
37:36salt crystals
37:37slowly crack the cement.
37:38The area's relentless fog
37:40rusts the rebar
37:42and major earthquakes
37:44periodically shake
37:45the foundations.
37:48All you need,
37:49once you've got
37:50those crystals
37:50building up in there
37:51and you get those
37:52spaces in pockets,
37:53a major jolt
37:54from an earthquake
37:55and that's all it is.
37:57That's it.
37:58The building's gone.
37:59Now, the former haunt
38:03of Hollywood's rich
38:04and famous
38:04has reached the end
38:05of the real.
38:07A 7.2 earthquake
38:09rumbles through,
38:11several rusted girders
38:12fail
38:12and the huge towers
38:15fold into the building
38:16below.
38:22But this pales
38:24in comparison
38:24to what is coming.
38:25Earth is about
38:29to be visited
38:29by the most
38:30massive building
38:31collapse
38:32in its history.
38:40250 years
38:42after people.
38:44In Dubai,
38:46the world's
38:46tallest building
38:47with its 1,000
38:49empty apartments
38:50still towers
38:51nearly half a mile
38:52above the desert floor.
38:54sandstorms
38:57and ocean humidity
38:58have shredded
38:59the Burj Khalifa's
39:00exterior,
39:02revealing a towering
39:04skeleton
39:04quaking in the wind.
39:07In a life
39:07after people,
39:08larger wind gusts
39:10would stress
39:11the building
39:11a little bit more,
39:13cracks would open up
39:13a little bit more.
39:15Now,
39:16one question
39:17becomes critical.
39:18Which will fail first?
39:20The columns
39:21of the building's
39:21top
39:22or bottom?
39:24There's a lot
39:25of stresses
39:25in that lower area
39:26that are subjected
39:27to the corrosive
39:29environment
39:30next to that salt water.
39:32And as concrete
39:34cracks and becomes
39:35stressed,
39:36one potential
39:37for the collapse
39:38is its connection
39:40at the base.
39:40A huge sandstorm
39:44blows in
39:45from the desert.
39:48The tallest tower
39:50mankind ever built
39:52keels over
39:53in the largest
39:54building collapse
39:55the planet
39:56has ever seen.
39:57300 years after people
40:10in a mine
40:12deep beneath
40:13Pennsylvania
40:13the prized
40:15Corbis Photo Archive
40:17has finally succumbed
40:18to humanity's fade out.
40:21Its priceless
40:22historic photos
40:23were meant to last
40:24thousands of years
40:25at sub-freezing temperatures.
40:28But conditions
40:29long ago
40:30warmed up.
40:34Once the generators
40:35run out of fuel
40:36the refrigeration stops.
40:39The pictures
40:41that are lovingly stored
40:43there,
40:43carefully stored there
40:44would begin
40:46to deteriorate.
40:49Instead of lasting
40:505,000 years
40:51they might only
40:52last a few hundred.
41:0410,000 years
41:06after people.
41:08Across most
41:09of the world
41:10the descendants
41:11of house cats
41:12have remained small
41:13trapped
41:14in their ecological niche
41:16by the presence
41:17of larger cats
41:18like mountain lions.
41:21But under certain conditions
41:23evolution is taking
41:25a dramatic turn.
41:28If domestic cats
41:29were isolated
41:30on an island
41:31where other cat species
41:32couldn't move in
41:33the domestic cats
41:34would actually evolve
41:36to a bobcat size
41:37according to what
41:38actual prey
41:39is there for them
41:40to eat.
41:41So if there's
41:42larger prey
41:43such as small deer
41:44the cats are going
41:46to rule.
41:47They already are
41:48the top predator
41:49in most of the ecosystems
41:50that they inhabit
41:51so there's no reason
41:53why they're not going
41:53to take control
41:54once all the people
41:55are gone.
42:0650 million years
42:08after people
42:09what has become
42:11of everything
42:12that made a house
42:13a home?
42:14The answer
42:15is found compressed
42:16into a thin
42:17geologic strata
42:18buried a quarter mile
42:20deep in many places.
42:23This human layer
42:24or strata
42:25of the geologic record
42:26is unique.
42:28The strata
42:28that represents
42:29human existence
42:31would indeed
42:32look very different
42:33because it would be
42:35enriched
42:36with materials
42:37that are refined
42:39from the earth
42:40and concentrated
42:41by humans.
42:43Among these materials
42:45plastics are the remnants
42:46of a common
42:47household substance
42:48plastic.
42:51It won't dissolve
42:52the plastic
42:53will begin to lose
42:54hydrogen,
42:55oxygen,
42:56nitrogen
42:56and become
42:57more carbon rich.
42:58It will turn
42:59from being clear
43:01it will turn
43:01yellowish first
43:02and then brownish.
43:04But no one
43:05really knows
43:06how long
43:07certain plastics
43:08can last
43:08especially buried
43:10away from oxygen
43:11water
43:12and ultraviolet light.
43:16Could some
43:17future species
43:18excavating
43:19the human layer
43:20stumble upon
43:21a frayed toothbrush
43:22or the eerie figure
43:24of a vinyl toy?
43:27Reminders
43:28of the lives
43:29once lived
43:29and the homes
43:31once cherished
43:32now buried
43:34in a narrow slice
43:36of earth's
43:36geologic record
43:38in a life
43:40after people.
43:42In the next episode
43:44of Life
43:45After People
43:46humanity
43:47takes a holiday.
43:48Now
43:49the reindeer
43:50games are over.
43:51Thanksgiving turkeys
43:53are cooked
43:53and this holiday
43:56getaway
43:56has become
43:57a holiday
43:58hell.
43:59of the
44:01time
44:02the
44:02games
44:03and
44:04New
44:05have
44:05been
44:07Kita
44:07and
44:08have
44:09the
44:09and
44:10to
44:14to
44:16our
44:16other
44:17people
44:18have
44:23to
44:24do
44:27we