All language subtitles for Life.After.People.S03E04.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

[dramatic music]

- [Narrator] What would
happen if every human being

on Earth disappeared?

No matter how we might vanish,

this is the story of what
could happen to the world

we leave behind.

Now, on "Life after People,"

Since the dawn of civilization,

humans have fought to
conquer the desert.

But when we're gone...

The sand seeks to swallow
up everything we've built,

from America's playground...

- Imagine the City of Sin,

literally cooking
from the inside out.

- [Narrator] To the
tallest building on Earth.

- This isn't just a dust storm.

It's a sand blaster
the size of a city.

- Humanity's greatest
triumphs wither in the sun.

Monuments crack in the heat.

And our footprint is swallowed
up by the sands of time.

Welcome to Earth,
population zero.

[soft music]

[soft, tense music]

Across the globe, farmland sits
silent. There's no planting.

No harvest.

In the Imperial Valley,

these abandoned fields
were brought to life

by sheer human will,

wrestled into existence
where nothing should grow.

- California's Imperial Valley

is a half million acre
agricultural powerhouse.

One harvest out of there
produces enough fruit

and vegetables and meat to
feed every single person

in New York City for a year.

- Keep in mind,

this is all happening
in the Sonoran Desert,

one of the most extreme
deserts on Earth.

- [Narrator] In this
thirsty stretch of land,

the daytime sun
blisters the ground

with 115 degree heat,

before plunging down
to 40 degrees at night.

- It's also dry as a bone.

To qualify as a desert,

an area needs to receive less
than 10 inches of rain a year.

The Imperial Valley
receives less than three.

So this farm in paradise had
to be completely man-made.

- [Narrator] In a place
where nothing was meant

to grow, mankind carved new
veins into the landscape.

A marvel of steel and
stone that poured life

into the arid desert.

- It took 10 years to build

the longest irrigation
canal in the United States.

It's an 80 mile long
concrete channel called

the All-American Canal.

It draws water from
the Colorado River,

downhill into the
Imperial Valley.

- Every year this system moves
840 billion gallons of water.

- [Narrator] For
nearly a hundred years,

this system has
defied mother nature,

creating a man-made oasis.

But it's one that relies
on human vigilance.

- Normally, a small
army of water managers

or ditch riders works
around the clock,

acting like air traffic
controllers for irrigation.

- A man is assigned to
a ditch to make sure

the right amount of water
goes to the right field

at the right time.

No more, no less.

- [Narrator] Now, there's
nobody left to man the ditches.

No one to adjust
the flow of water.

- Any gates that
were left open would

have water just flooding
out onto these fields.

You're just going to have
this patchwork of lakes,

each of which has a bunch
of dead vegetables floating

on the surface.

- The Imperial Valley is so vast

that while some parts
would be flooded, others,

where the gates were closed,
wouldn't get any water at all.

In the triple-digit heat,
this land would quickly die.

- [Narrator] It took years
of human engineering to make

the desert bloom.

But in only 48 hours,

mother nature reached out her
hand and laid it to waste.

300 miles north, deep
in the scorched heart

of the Mojave Desert,
lies Las Vegas.

The casinos are empty now,
no dealers at the tables,

no gamblers at the slots.

But it still burns bright,

a neon mirage flickering
against the emptiness.

- The Las Vegas Strip
is a 4.2 mile stretch

of just absolutely
pure spectacle.

It's hotels, it's casinos,

and more than 10,000
miles of neon tubing

and 12 million lights.

- The city itself
outshines entire countries

in electricity consumption,
guzzling over 8,000 megawatts

of energy a day.

That's the same rate as
Paraguay or Iceland.

- [Narrator] Beneath
the stillness

of the glittering
city, something hums.

An automated multi-source
power grid built by human hands

to keep the current flowing.

Even when no one
is left to use it.

- In Vegas, the demand for
power fluctuates wildly,

from sleepy off-season
nights to packed casinos

in 100 plus degree days.

- During the daytime
it can run on solar.

At other times it can run
off hydroelectric power

from the Hoover Dam.

And if it needs a
little extra juice,

it's got natural gas
plants that can do that.

- Problem is, even this
super advanced system

needs humans to maintain it.

On the hottest days,

workers maintain
transformers' cooling systems

so they don't overheat.

And solar panels need to be
constantly cleared of dust

and debris that would
otherwise render them useless.

- [Narrator] Just as the
lights were always meant

to do, they're drawing crowds.

But these visitors come writhing
and twitching in the night.

- So many insects are
attracted to the light.

You know, moths, flies,
bees, wasps, mosquitoes.

Under normal
conditions, they would

be orienting themselves
by moonlight.

You introduce artificial
light and it confuses them.

And they end up spiraling

towards these multiple
sources of light.

- As nearby towns go dark,

Vegas becomes a magnet for
every light-seeking insect

in the area.

- Grasshoppers have
been a huge problem

for Las Vegas in the past.

One night in 2019,

the lights attracted an
unbelievable horde of them.

It's estimated that 46
million grasshoppers descended

on the city, terrorizing
locals and tourists.

- The swarms of
grasshoppers were

so thick they
looked like clouds.

Scientists were
even able to track

their movements using
weather satellites.

- [Narrator] The Bellagio
was alive with movement,

blanketed by insects.

The MGM Grand wriggles,

covered in a thick
layer of grasshoppers.

And the city's lifeblood,

its electrical transformers
are being swarmed as well.

- Essentially, transformers take

the electricity
generated by power plants

and convert it into
smaller doses for us to use

in our homes and businesses.

This is sort of like
taking a fire hose

and converting it down
to a kitchen faucet.

- The problem is you've
got all these insects

swarming and nesting and
blocking the ventilation.

- Normally, crews would
clear the transformers

and cool them down, but not now.

And the hotter they get, the
oil inside them degrades,

the wires expand, the
insulation weakens...

I mean, it is a perfect
recipe for ignition.

- [Narrator] Without warning,
the silence is shattered.

[explosion booming]

One transformer erupts in a
shower of sparks. Then another.

And another. It's the
beginning of the end.

- Those explosions
would come so fast

and furiously that it
would sound like someone

was making popcorn.

Only the kernels
were sticks of TNT.

- It would be like
the most gruesome,

destructive fireworks
show you've ever seen.

- [Narrator] After more than
a century of unbroken glow,

the brightest city
on Earth goes dark.

The Strip, once a
beacon of excess,

is swallowed by blackness.

But parts of the city
are still smoldering.

All it will take is
one gust, one ember,

and Las Vegas will light
up the sky one last time.

- [Narrator] On the
border of the sun-scorched

Arabian desert lies
the city of Dubai.

A metropolis once inhabited
by over six million residents.

Now home to none. The advanced
rail system is abandoned.

And the famous Dubai
Fountain dances for no one.

- For centuries, Dubai was just

a small backwater in
the Arabian desert.

But then, in 1966,
they struck oil.

At the peak of their oil boom,

they were raking in
$42 million a day.

And they invested all
of that into becoming

a major economic player.

- Dubai went from a
small fishing village

to the second largest
city in the Middle East.

They built the biggest port
in the region and became

a crucial shipping hub,

handling 10% of the
world's cargo containers.

- They built beaches and
even man-made islands

to encourage tourism.

They built 100,000 hotel
rooms for visitors to stay in.

- [Narrator] Two
weeks after people,

there's no one to refuel

the natural gas-powered turbines

that supply
electricity to Dubai.

And they spin their last,

blanketing its vast malls
and artificial islands

in haunting silence.

But in the heart of the city,

one building still
hums with life.

Deep inside, backup
generators whisper.

A faint mechanical heartbeat
in a world gone still.

It's a towering pillar
of glass and steel,

raised up by human
hands in the face

of nature's harshest elements.

It's the tallest building on
the planet. The Burj Khalifa.

- Dubai wanted an iconic
landmark to put it

on the map, so to speak,

to compete with cities like
New York City and London.

So they went with a tower
that stretches 2,716 feet

into the sky with 160 floors.

It's about two times as tall
as the Empire State Building.

- The environment in
Dubai is punishing.

Temperatures can get to
over 125 degrees Fahrenheit.

And on top of that,

you've got these
incredibly strong winds

and sometimes sandstorms.

- [Narrator] The
tower was boldly built

to withstand the desert.

A shining beacon
of human ingenuity.

But beneath it, in the
dry, blistering heat,

danger lies hidden
beneath the sand.

- The Burj Khalifa is just two

and a half miles from
the Persian Gulf.

That means salt water.

And that salt water
is constantly seeping

into the ground
underneath Dubai.

- The building stands
on the shoulders

of 192 concrete piles
driven deep into the Earth.

As water seeps in, the
soil swells and pushes

against them, probing as
if looking for a weakness.

- To protect itself, the Burj
has a massive pumping

system designed to
deal with groundwater.

It can remove up to 20
Olympic-sized swimming pools

of water in a single year.

- Even if all the
pumps went out,

the engineers
designed what's called

a cathodic protection system,

which is essentially a
way to use electricity

to prevent rust.

- Beneath the tower,

a current pulses through
the steel in its foundation,

a ghostly force field that
halts the chemical dance

that causes metal
to oxidize and rust.

- But of course, this system
relies on the power staying on.

- [Narrator] One
month after people,

with no one to maintain them,

the tower's backup
generators have been living

on borrowed time.

- The backup generators
run on diesel fuel,

and even with those
tanks completely full,

at most they're going to
last a couple of weeks.

So after people, those things
will be dead in no time.

- [Narrator] The last
generator sputters and dies.

The electrical heartbeat
that once guarded

the Burj Khalifa's foundation
fades into silence.

The building's last
sentinels have abandoned

their posts, leaving the tallest
building on Earth exposed.

In California, four
weeks without people,

and the Imperial Valley is
being reclaimed by the desert.

Fields withering, choking
beneath a pitiless sun.

Nearby lies the Salton Sea.

Once another man-made oasis
in the sweltering sands,

now the biggest lake

in California sits
abandoned, derelict,

and baking in the heat.

- The Salton Sea,

it was essentially
made by accident.

Back in the early 1900s,

engineers were trying
to divert water

from the Colorado River
into the Imperial Valley

when a retaining wall on one

of the irrigation
canals collapsed.

That caused water
to divert and go

into this natural depression

in the Sonoran Valley
called the Salton Sink.

- The area flooded
for an entire year,

and by the time it stopped,

the entire Sink
was full of water.

It was transformed into a lake
about the size of the city

of San Diego.

- By the 1950s,

the Salton Sea became a hotspot

for activities like
fishing, boating,

and other water sports.

So the water was continually
diverted there to keep

the water level high.

But as the population of
Southern California grew,

cities like San Diego
needed more water.

So less was diverted,

and eventually the Salton
Sea started drying up.

- As the water receded

and the salt levels spiked,

fish began dying
off in huge numbers.

At that point, the
only water being input

was agricultural runoff, filled

with fertilizers,
pesticides, and toxins.

The sea effectively
became a lake of poison.

- [Narrator] With the
Imperial Valley drying up

and no water runoff flowing
into the Salton Sea,

it's evaporating fast.

And all it leaves
behind are salt, sludge,

and something far
more dangerous,

waiting to rise with the wind.

- As the water recedes,

chemicals used in farming
over the years have built up

in that dust.

Chemicals like DDT and arsenic.

And so as that dry lake
bed gets stirred up

by the winds, that dust rises
up, and so do the chemicals.

And they're all spread
over the entire area.

- And you might
think, after people,

those chemicals wouldn't matter.

But they do because those
chemicals are also corrosive.

- And for animals,
it's even worse.

Damaging the lungs and
kidneys, irritating skin,

and even messing with fertility.

- [Narrator] From the parched
bed of the Salton Sea,

toxic dust begins to rise.

Now the Santa Ana winds awaken,

screaming across the
valley at 70 miles an hour.

They twist the air
into poisonous gusts.

And when they pass, nothing
they touch will be the same.

Three months after people.

Las Vegas is no longer
the city of lights.

It's a city of smoldering flame.

Exploding transformers have
left behind pockets of fire,

and they're hungry
for more fuel.

- One of the easiest
ways for fire to spread

is through dense vegetation.

But Vegas has spent years
getting rid of that vegetation

and leaning more into
desert landscaping

to reduce water usage.

So there's just not
that much left to burn

in the area, except
our buildings.

- [Narrator] Now something
sinister is looming,

threatening to turn the
remaining relics of mankind

into a funeral pyre.

- Las Vegas itself is very dry.

But during the summer,

thunderstorms can develop
in the surrounding hills,

and they can send strong
winds down into the valley.

- Wind is the number
one reason fires spread.

Burning embers can be
carried by the wind up

to two miles, landing
on a roof and starting

a whole new fire.

- [Narrator] Without
warning, fire erupts.

[fire roaring]

First in the heart
of East Las Vegas,

then among the lonely
murals of the arts district.

Finally, it claims the Strip.

Neon signs melt,
buildings ignite.

What was once a playground
of excess becomes

an inferno devouring itself.

- Picture the Mandalay
Bay in flames,

then the Luxor, Tropicana,
MGM Grand, all those iconic

Sin City landmarks
swallowed by fire.

- Within only a couple of hours,

the casinos would start to
lose structural integrity.

You'd see the roofs cave
in and the walls collapse.

All the glitz and glamor just
melt into charred rubble.

- [Narrator] Las Vegas
is a flaming ruin.

The only question that
lingers in the smoky air

is how long before what's
left is swallowed up

by the desert.

- [Narrator] Five
years after people,

the tallest tower ever
built rises proudly

from the desert sands below.

But the seeds of decay
have already been planted,

and its enemy is
slow and patient,

a siege that rises from below
inch by wet, salty inch.

- The tower doesn't look
much different above ground,

but without power,

the system that prevents
the salt water corrosion,

you'd see tiny cracks
forming in the concrete piles

that the whole
structure rests on.

- The Burj has now
been sealed up,

baking in the Arabian sun.

It's basically a greenhouse
with temperatures reaching

as high as 150
degrees Fahrenheit.

- Thanks to the Persian Gulf,

humidity hovers around
60% during the summer.

Condensation will be
building up on the walls

and the ceiling of the units.

It would be so wet,

it would look like
it's drizzling inside.

- First, mildew
would start to grow

on furniture and carpets,
and then comes the mold.

The drywall would start to
rot and the wood in doors

and inside the walls would
start to warp and bow.

- It's amazing how
fast the illusion

of luxury can just disappear.

The rooms in the Burj
Khalifa would start

to look run down really fast.

Discolored, stinky,
almost like the hallways

and the rooms are melting.

[dramatic music]

- [Narrator] 15 years later,

and the elements
have shown no mercy.

The sun is unforgiving.

- The constant heat, moisture,

and UV rays from the sun
will start to break down

the sealant that keeps
the windows in place.

- Windows start falling
out of their frames

and chunks of glass fall
loose from the structure

and crash down onto
the street below.

- [Narrator] The tower's
skin is peeling away,

flaking off like old paint,

but inside something far
more insidious remains.

57 elevators suspended
thousands of feet in the air,

their cables weakening
with each passing year.

How long will it be before
gravity overwhelms them?

[dramatic music]

In the Imperial Valley,

what was once lush farmland

is completely
unrecognizable, reclaimed

by the brutal Sonoran Desert.

- All those once thriving
crops are long gone,

and the Salton Sea has
completely disappeared.

- The dry lake bed
is now exposed.

Dangerous heavy elements
like selenium and arsenic,

and even traces of DDT
are kicked up by the wind

into a dust cloud,

and this poisonous cloud
spreads across the landscape.

- The strong desert winds
in Santa Ana will carry

this arsenic-laced dust all
across Southern California.

We're talking thousands
of tons of poison.

The fallout will
carry on for decades.

- [Narrator] The cloud
of death drifts westward,

hunting its next target,
a desolate, arid city,

its bones already
being picked clean

by the elements, Los Angeles.

- LA isn't technically a desert,

it's more like a dry
Mediterranean climate,

but 25 years after people,

it's well on its
way to becoming one.

- This is a city
that knows very well

the dangers of life
in a hot, dry climate,

and without the vigilance
of its citizens,

most notably firefighters,
LA would be in rough shape.

- [Narrator] But
high on its hill,

an LA icon still overlooks
the sand-choked city.

- Thanks to a steel
makeover in 1978,

the Hollywood sign
is still standing.

Steel melts at about
2,500 degrees Fahrenheit,

which is much hotter
than most wildfires.

So while Los Angeles
crumbles, the sign remains,

a lonely testament to the
dreams Hollywood left behind.

- Over time, nature
would take over.

Hardy desert plants would
creep in, topsoil would erode,

and the city would start to
resemble the arid landscapes

of the Mojave.

- The only sort of
twisted good news would be

that the threat
of fire would fade

as the most flammable material
would be slowly buried

under the desert sand.

- [Narrator] The city's
freeways scrawl across

the land like a spider
web, cracked, sun bleached,

and littered with the
husks of abandoned cars.

But among them, a predator
once held in check by humanity

is on the prowl again.

- LA's 528-mile freeway
system may keep cars

moving, but it also
traps mountain lions,

cutting them off from
habitats and mates.

- In the time of humans,
driven by instinct,

young males will
risk almost anything,

including putting their
lives on the line by trying

to navigate LA's
deadly freeways.

- [Narrator] But after people,
the engines are silent,

the lanes are empty,

and for the first time
in more than a century,

nothing stands in their way.

- The mountain lions

are now roaming free,
expanding their territory,

finding mates, and
strengthening their gene pool

to secure their species' future.

- [Narrator] But
just as these kings

of the canyon
reclaim LA's streets,

the deadly cloud
of airborne toxins

that has been swarming toward
the city finally arrives.

[dramatic music]

- [Narrator] 25 years after
people, once a dream factory,

Los Angeles is now a nightmare.

Its streets are buried
beneath scorching sands

and prowled by hungry
mountain lions.

And from the east,
something worse is coming,

a toxic cloud rising from
the corpse of the Salton Sea.

- We're talking
arsenic, selenium,

pesticide residues, raining down

on the city like some
kind of chemical fallout.

[lion growling]

- Wildlife that once
thrived in the absence

of humans, like mountain
lions and coyotes,

now have to deal with
contaminated food

and water sources. - With little
water, no shade, and almost no

prey, sticking around would
be a death sentence.

The lucky ones would
migrate north to cooler,

wetter regions like the
Sierra Nevadas or Oregon.

Those who stayed would
either adapt into smaller,

tougher desert
hunters or die out.

- [Narrator] Los Angeles
was already a ghost town.

Now, 25 years after people,
wildlife abandons it

as well, leaving nothing
to witness what's left

of it be consumed by the desert.

[dramatic music]

In Dubai, the tallest structure
ever built still pierces

the clouds, but
it's being slowly,

methodically
undermined by decay.

And now, a new threat rises
and an invasion takes root.

- Back in the 1970s,

the UAE imported mesquite
trees from Central America,

hoping to green up the
desert around Dubai.

On paper, it sounded
like a brilliant idea.

These trees grow insanely
fast, they provide tons

of shade, and they handle
salty water like champs.

But nobody realized the
monster they were unleashing.

- Roots spread up to three feet

in each direction,
hogging nutrition.

And nothing survives
under its shady canopy

because it releases chemicals

that suppress other
plants' growth.

- [Narrator] A small army
of groundskeepers once kept

the trees at bay,
but after people,

they spread like a virus.

Roots cracking pavement,
branches clawing

at stone, smothering
the base of the tower.

- Mesquite roots
grow extremely deep,

sometimes 150 feet.

These deep tap roots allow them

to access underground water

so they can survive
drought conditions.

- Mesquite roots find
their way into the cracks

of the foundation,
widening them,

letting salt water in,
accelerating decay.

Soon, the whole
thing could collapse,

so what salt water began,
the roots might finish.

- [Narrator] While the
building's foundations choke

and rot, a new threat descends
from the very heavens it

was built to touch.

[lightning crashing]
- Tall buildings

are always prime
targets for lightning.

In the flat desert,
the risk increases,

and when it's the tallest
skyscraper ever built,

the risks are even higher.

- [Narrator] The building's
only defense is a relic

of human engineering.

A lightning rod that
channels each strike safely

through the structure
and into the ground.

- But this system is
meant to withstand

about 100 lightning
strikes before it requires

a human hand to repair it.

And the Burj Khalifa
experiences an average of 10

to 12 lightning strikes
every single year.

- [Narrator] Without
people to maintain it,

the rod is little more
than a decoration.

Thirty years after people,

it won't take a natural
disaster to breach it,

just a run of the
mill thunderstorm.

- Considering that a
typical lightning strike

is about 300 million
volts of electricity,

that's enough to jumpstart

about 25 million
dead car batteries,

you don't want that kind

of violent energy anywhere
near your skyscraper.

[lightning crashing]

- A lightning strike won't
just hit, it will spread.

[lightning crashing]

The bolt jumps through
the smaller metal supports

into the weaker parts
of the building,

and when that much voltage
hits fragile glass, boom.

- [Narrator] The strike rips
through the upper floors.

Glass and debris rain down.
Flames erupt, spreading fast.

The tower is burning.

- With no fire suppression
systems working,

even a small blaze
could spread quickly.

Down ventilation ducts
and empty hallways

until the entire building
was engulfed in flame.

A burning beacon on
the empty skyline.

- [Narrator] The crown
jewel of human construction

is rotting from the ground up
and burning from the top down.

The question isn't whether
or not it'll survive,

it's what will
finally bring it down.

[dramatic music]

- [Narrator] Fifty
years after people,

the city of sin is
now a grim ruin.

What's left of the once
glitzy casinos is crumbling.

[explosion booming]

The concrete giving way to
relentless heat and time.

- Any protective sealant
that used to reflect heat,

that has long since worn off.

And so now you've got
these hot Las Vegas days,

these cold Las Vegas nights,

and that is a perfect recipe
for severe thermal cracking.

[concrete cracking]
- Thermal cracking

is when the concrete heats
up ten degrees or more above

the surrounding air, it
starts to stress and crack.

And the bigger the
temperature difference,

the worse it gets.

- [Narrator] Unlike the
ancient ruins it was built

to evoke, Caesar's Palace
is cracked, broken,

and crumbling into dust.

- Now you might be thinking,

why can I visit Roman
ruins that are thousands

of years old, when in Las Vegas,

Caesar's Palace disintegrated
in just a few years?

Well the reason is
something called quicklime.

- Quicklime is made by heating
limestone until it becomes

a chalky powder.

And then when you mix the
powder with water it forms

a super sticky glue

that can hold rocks
together for centuries.

- The best thing about it though

is that you're going to get
cracks that form over time,

but once they do, water
gets inside the cracks,

that causes the
chemical reaction

to get triggered
again, and you end up

with this magical,
self-healing concrete.

Even better, the mixture
pulls carbon from the air,

turning it back into stone.

So not only does it fix itself,
it makes itself stronger.

- It's crazy, ancient
Roman concrete actually got

stronger over time.

Whereas everything we
use today breaks down

under heat, water,
and stress, leading

to cracks, erosion, and
eventually a total collapse.

[dramatic music]

- [Narrator] The desert is
overwhelming what's left

of the strip.

[metal crashing]

The Stratosphere,
Mandalay Bay, Luxor,

and Bellagio are already
among its victims,

but it's got far
bigger ambitions.

[dramatic music]

In Dubai, the tallest tower
ever built has been battered

by lightning and
corroded by rust.

It still stands,
the last great relic

of a vanished civilization,

but a threat has been
hanging inside the tower

for over a century, one
which could spell disaster.

- There are 57 elevators
in the Burj Khalifa,

and elevator cables begin
to weaken and break down

in temperatures
above 150 degrees.

Any elevator cars
on the upper floors

are now being held up
by weakened cables,

which are deteriorating
in the sweltering heat.

- [Narrator] After 150 years,

the tower's elevators
hang by a thread.

[dramatic music]

All it would take is a
strong wind to unmoor them,

and on the horizon, a sandstorm
is gathering strength,

a leviathan of wind and grit,
called a haboob in Arabic.

It is ancient in name
and approaching

with primordial fury.

- A haboob
isn't just a dust storm.

It's a dust tsunami.

These beasts can
stretch 60 miles wide,

tower several miles high,

and blast through with winds
up to 65 miles an hour.

Basically, they're a
sandblaster the size of a city.

[dramatic music]

[dramatic music]

- [Narrator] The Burj Khalifa
has stood for a century

and a half since
the time of people.

Now, a massive sandstorm
swallows the tower,

scouring it with windblown grit.

Inside, elevators long
forgotten and corroded begin

to snap one by one.

[elevator crashing]

Echoing through empty shafts
like the cracking of bones...

- These 57 elevators
weigh anywhere from 21,000

to 27,000 pounds each,

and the one dropping
the farthest is going

from a height that's taller
than the Empire State Building.

- The elevators would
hit the foundation

at the speed of over
200 miles per hour,

with each elevator striking
the base with a force

of over 800,000 jackhammers.

- [Narrator] With this final
blow to its foundation,

the tower collapses and is
swallowed up by the desert.

[dramatic music]

200 years after people, Las
Vegas is all but erased,

and only echoes of its
former glory remain.

- The once glitzy strip would
be a weed-choked wasteland.

The remnants of the neon
signs would be poking

through the sands.

Maybe you'd still see the
husk of Caesar's Palace.

Its Roman columns toppled
like some lost civilization.

- [Narrator] But one
relic endures steadfast.

A monument to what once was.

- Leo, the MGM mascot.

45 feet tall and
weighing 50 tons.

- Still standing, looking over

the glittering empire that was.

- Bronze is basically
nature's tank.

Unlike iron that degrades
over time when it's exposed

to the elements, bronze
does something different.

It makes its own
armor.

It produces something
called patina.

- A patina actually protects it,

sealing it off from
further damage.

So while steel
crumbles and wood rots,

that bronze lion will
just sit there happily

for thousands of years.

[dramatic music]

- Across the globe,

mankind's footprints
are being swallowed up

by the sands of time.

- The Sahara desert
is already massive.

It's about the size of the
contiguous United States.

But here's the real kicker.

Since 1920, it's been
growing by an area the size

of Delaware every single year.

And it shows no sign
of slowing down.

- [Narrator] The Sahara
alone has swallowed

over 220,000 square miles,

an area the size of France
completely consumed by sand.

And cities like Los Angeles
are full-fledged wastelands

of dust and dunes.

- LA by now would endure months

of 95 degree plus
days every year.

Rainfall would have
plummeted by up to 80%,

turning the city into a desert.

- It'd be absolute
devastation straight out

of a Hollywood apocalypse.

Skylines crumbling under
the shifting sands.

LA would be a ghost of itself.

- [Narrator] For
millennia, humanity battled

the desert, chiseling
cities from dust

and forcing life where
it wasn't meant to exist.

But in just a few centuries,

the wind erases
the lines we drew

and the sand reclaims almost
everything we left behind.

- Something that we
have to remember is just

how many resources

and how much human
upkeep actually goes

into protecting these
structures that we built

in dry desert climates
that maybe we should not

have been building
in the first place.

- Humans rolled the
dice on the desert,

reshaped it and forced
it to bend to our will.

But without us, well,
the house always wins.

Mother Nature takes it all back.

[dramatic music]