What would happen if, tomorrow, every single person on Earth simply disappeared? Not dead, simply gone, just like that. A world without people, where city streets are still populated by cars, but no drivers. A world where there is no one to fix bridges or repair broken windows…

After being on the receiving end of humanity for millennia, nature would finally be given a chance to take the world back.

But how would it work? How long would the skyscrapers and houses last if they were abandoned? How would suburban pets fare without people to feed them? How would the forests, the oceans and the wildlife react if there was suddenly an end to all the hunting, fishing and farming?

“Aftermath” is the astounding story of a world that humans will never see. The two-hour special examines the impact of human beings on this planet by proposing what the Earth might be like without people.

The story begins immediately after the disappearance of humans, and ends with the beginning of a new ice age, 5000 years from now. What remnants of human civilization may still be visible? Will modern buildings last hundreds or thousands of years, as have the pyramids at Giza?

The answers are surprising and shocking. Using a combination of CGI and live-action drama, the possible future begins mere weeks after the disappearance of mankind. There are cataclysmic explosions as automatic systems fail and the power goes off. Nuclear power plants catch fire throughout the Western world, spewing out radiation at levels far higher than from Chernobyl.

As the fires burn, abandoned suburban pets and farm animals must attempt to survive in the new human-free world. Dogs form hunting packs, reverting back to their wolfish instincts in a matter of weeks. Among domesticated animals such as cows and chickens, many die due to the artificial breeding practices that have altered their natural evolution. Over the decades to come, long suppressed ancestral genes slowly resurface among the survivors. Fur and horns grow back and udders shrink. In other words, the farm animals get tough or die.

Meanwhile, humanity’s great engineering marvels find themselves at war with nature. Water and carbon dioxide slowly eat away at the world’s great skyscrapers and bridges. They deteriorate slowly, as windows fall and nature invades city boardrooms. But which of the world’s great structures may survive for over a thousand years? Will the Eiffel Tower outlast the Statue of Liberty? The answers are discovered as Mother Nature takes back her rivers and oceans, and allows the deserts to recapture Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Using state-of-the-art animation and special effects, “Aftermath” explores a world no human being will ever see. By examining how the world might get along without us, “Aftermath” also delivers surprising insights into how the world works – and what keeps it from falling apart.

Aftermath: Population Zero
Catastrophe
Movie, 1 x 90'
Produced by Cream Productions Inc. for National Geographic US, History Television Canada and ProSieben in association with SevenOne International
All rights reserved © SevenOne International - Credits not contractual - Different territories