How Human Extinction Would Change The Earth

  Only now do deforestation and remote sensing techniques offer us a glimpse of what came before. Plant and animal species that have formed close bonds with humanity are the most likely to suffer if we disappear. The crops that feed the world, reliant as they are on regular applications of pesticides and fertilizers, would swiftly be replaced by their wild forebears.“They’re going to get outcompeted, fast,” says Weisman. “Carrots will turn back into Queen Anne’s lace, corn may go back into teosinte – the original ear of corn that wasn’t much bigger than a sprig of wheat.”