Life After People

What if every human being on earth disappeared? This isn't the story of how we might vanish--it is the story of what happens to the world we leave behind. In this episode, we'll see what happens to some of the bodies left behind. Most embalmed and buried, some mummified, others cryogenically frozen. Will any of them truly achieve immortality? Or will they be outlived by other memorials to mankind, like the Statue of Liberty or the Sistine Chapel. This is just part of a journey that will take us to the future of cities of Boston and Houston--as well as haunting sites already devoid of man.

In this episode, savage forces sieze control from man. Thousands of domesticated animals break loose, feats of engineering will self-destruct, pets will escape, and a deadly virus will spread once again. Invasive vines will blanket the South, while the Sears Tower and Big Ben struggle to remain standing. In an outbreak of nature what will endure? It is a journey that will take us to the future of Chicago, Atlanta and London--as well as haunting locations already devoid of man. This isn't the story of how we might vanish--it's the story of what happens to the world we leave behind.

Our nation's capital is under attack. Forces of nature threaten to destroy our national treasures. What will happen to The Capital, The Washington Monument or the Constitution after man disappears? Three thousand miles away, Los Angeles, the center of the entertainment world, faces the same threat. Wilted palm trees set the scene for a massive inferno. What will survive? What creatures might take our place? And could another capital to mankind emerge in the Pacific Ocean when we're gone?

Once people disappear, New York City experiences its next great crash. In this episode, we reveal the breaking point of precious metals: skyscrapers face collapse, bridges hang by a steel thread; and the fate of our nation's secret stash of gold. Meanwhile, a fatal weakness is exposed in the Gateway Arch, breweries reveal untapped potential for disaster, and horses make a surprising bid to stay alive in a life after people.

In a life after people, Earth is invaded by predatory forces: Pythons, once exotic pets, now battle native alligators for control of the Everglades, invasive plants strip oxygen from lakes and rivers, and the desert invades Phoenix with enormous sandstorms. Meanwhile, Shanghai sinks under the weight of its empty skyscrapers, while Miami Beach battles the forces of the Atlantic Ocean.

The fate of the treasures left entombed, like the mysterious Doomsday Vault, the Mona Lisa, and the Declaration of Independence. Also, Philiadelphia's Liberty Bell cracks for good and San Francisco's cable cars and bridges snap.