Aftermath: Population Zero Page #3

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to their bark and resin.

Chlorophyll, which makes

the trees green, is damaged,

and as a result, they turn red.

The last time a forest died like this

was during the Chernobyl

disaster in 1986.

Radiation contaminated an

area of 50,000 square miles,

the size of Alabama.

In a world without humans,

this scene is repeated again and again.

Nuclear power poisons

the earth we left behind.

There are 6 nuclear

power plants in Illinois.

Radioactive smoke fills

the streets of Chicago,

the site of the world's first

self-sustaining nuclear reaction.

Fires break out at many

of the 30 nuclear plants

located in the eastern US.

Each one is almost 20

times more radioactive

than the Chernobyl disaster.

Many of Europe's 173

reactors also ignite.

Their spent fuel burns.

Carried by the wind,

the radiation is an invisible poison

that settles over

thousands of square miles.

If we were still on the planet,

it would cause cancer

in millions of people.

Giant plumes of radioactive smoke

and particles spread across

the northern hemisphere.

Winds push radiation away

from the reactors in Europe.

If conditions are right, it could

reach as far as North Africa.

Radiation from some

of Japan's 53 reactors

drifts across the Pacific Ocean.

The world's most remote

islands are in its path.

Rain washes much of the

radiation from the sky,

concentrating its deadly effects.

Some areas become more

deadly than others.

Large animals flee areas where plants

have died from radiation poisoning.

But small creatures aren't as lucky.

Many live on the forest floor

where leaves and soil are

coated in radioactive particles.

Radioactive beta particles

can only penetrate half

an inch into living tissue.

For large animals like deer,

their vital organs are

spared a direct assault.

But it's different for small animals.

Their organs aren't so insulated.

Radiation cripples them.

In the worst hit areas,

over half of the

rodents and insects die.

For animals in the cities and suburbs,

they have access to food

that's much less radioactive.

Grocery stores can provide enough food

for city mice to last for generations.

They also make a

perfect breeding ground.

A female mouse can give birth to

more than 70 offspring in a year.

Since radiation has killed

many of the mice outside,

this cat heads indoors,

where he just might get the 8 mice

a day he needs to stay healthy.

Humans need a variety of

foods to get all the fat,

protein and vitamins we require.

Cats don't.

They can produce their own vitamin C,

and they can get the rest by eating

the organs and entrails of mice.

All over the planet,

animals are invading the

human world to find food.

And what we left behind

will keep them alive,

even as clouds of radiation spread.

Radiation has dissipated.

Cities are quiet and the

atmosphere is improving.

The air is clearer.

In Manhattan and Toronto, the view

has increased from 20 miles to 100.

City dogs still roam the

countryside looking for food.

Most of these former pets

are far from skilled hunters.

But if they're hungry enough,

they'll try to attack anything once.

Like wolves, dogs hunt by instinct,

going for the legs or neck

to bring down a large animal.

But instinct is no match for a

beast weighing thousands of pounds.

The dogs aren't a threat.

And without humans,

the elephants are predator-free.

In just a few months,

pets and zoo animals have become killers

in a radioactive world.

But another challenge is on the horizon:

winter.

Six months after humans disappear.

It's early December.

In a world without us,

former zoo animals and

pets either adapted or died.

In some parts of the world,

animals are about to

face their next challenge:

the coming winter.

A common misconception is that

cockroaches can survive almost anything.

But cockroaches are

imports from the tropics

and only spread north as we

started to use central heating.

With the electricity

gone, and the furnaces off,

millions of cockroaches

will be dead by the new year.

For other animals,

our sudden disappearance

isn't a problem,

it's an opportunity.

Raccoons and squirrels already know

that the best way to survive the cold

is to sleep through it.

And this winter, they have

many new dens to choose from,

that are drier and safer

than sleeping outside.

These squirrels are tree

dwellers, so they camp upstairs.

Skunks, on the other

hand, prefer the ground.

Hibernating animals don't need heat,

even when their body temperatures

drop almost to the freezing point.

It's a survival strategy their

ancestors evolved long ago.

But this African elephant isn't equipped

to deal with frigid temperatures.

His body evolved to get rid of heat,

not keep it.

In Africa, his thin ears would

have helped him keep cool.

But now, they're just

getting frostbitten.

To survive, he needs to head south.

After winter comes a

spring like never before.

In the forests near ruined

nuclear power plants,

it's a silent season.

Poisoned by radiation,

these evergreens have lost their

ability to grow new shoots and branches.

But further from the power plants,

spring helps repair the

damage we left behind.

Rain washes radioactive

debris from leaves and bark.

Poisonous atoms are driven underground.

They're still a threat to

anything that lives there,

but our radioactive fingerprint

is starting to disappear.

And that's not the only threat

to animals that has vanished.

Without humans there is no one to hunt.

And a population explosion of

animals takes over the empty spaces.

This new world is filled

with new opportunities.

It's almost been a year since

every car on Earth ran out of gas.

In their last year on the road,

cars pumped 7 billion tons of

carbon dioxide into the air,

more than one ton for

every person on Earth.

This greenhouse gas

accounted for half of the impact

humans had on global warming.

But now, the carbon dioxide will be

cleaned up faster than ever before.

In spring, new plants and

leaves need carbon to grow.

They draw it out of the air,

naturally cleansing a polluted planet.

New trees soak up more

carbon than old ones.

This spring, nature has

many new places to grow.

For the past ten thousand years,

we've been imposing

our will on the planet.

In downtown Los Angeles,

two thirds of the land is

covered in roads and parking lots.

We made our mark in the suburbs, too.

In the US, lawns and golf courses

cover an area bigger than Florida.

Now that we're gone,

nature is reclaiming the Earth.

Nothing is immune.

Millions of miles of roads and highways

are slowly being invaded

by moss and lichen

and all they usually need is water.

Cracked roads are filled

in with moss and grass.

A once carefully groomed

soccer field now grows wild.

Fast-growing trees take root

where children once played.

All these new plants

allow nature to soak

up greenhouse gases like

carbon dioxide faster

than when humans were here.

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