1 00:00:07,375 --> 00:00:09,875 What would happen if every human being 2 00:00:10,042 --> 00:00:12,083 on Earth disappeared? 3 00:00:13,292 --> 00:00:15,292 No matter how we might vanish, 4 00:00:15,500 --> 00:00:17,667 this is the story of what could happen 5 00:00:17,833 --> 00:00:20,125 to the world we leave behind. 6 00:00:23,375 --> 00:00:26,375 Now on "Life After People," 7 00:00:27,458 --> 00:00:30,875 commerce is the backbone of human civilization, 8 00:00:31,042 --> 00:00:34,000 but when we vanish, it goes to the dogs. 9 00:00:35,042 --> 00:00:38,708 Every kind of predator you can think of shows up. 10 00:00:38,875 --> 00:00:42,333 Grocery stores become part of a new food chain. 11 00:00:42,458 --> 00:00:44,000 When it comes to claiming territory, 12 00:00:44,167 --> 00:00:46,500 it's a life or death battle every time. 13 00:00:47,917 --> 00:00:49,167 The biggest mall in the world 14 00:00:49,333 --> 00:00:51,708 is pounded by the elements. 15 00:00:53,250 --> 00:00:56,082 One wing of it was a raging inferno 16 00:00:56,083 --> 00:00:58,667 while the other wing is completely untouched. 17 00:00:59,208 --> 00:01:00,875 And the busiest port 18 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,625 on the planet faces annihilation. 19 00:01:05,542 --> 00:01:07,457 You have acid melting through structures, 20 00:01:07,458 --> 00:01:11,792 live rounds going off, shipping containers exploding. 21 00:01:11,917 --> 00:01:13,208 Steel and cargo, 22 00:01:13,375 --> 00:01:17,125 like a freight train on water, unstoppable. 23 00:01:19,042 --> 00:01:20,875 From the global supply chain 24 00:01:21,042 --> 00:01:22,708 to our food and clothing, 25 00:01:24,208 --> 00:01:27,458 life after people will drastically alter the planet. 26 00:01:28,333 --> 00:01:32,832 Welcome to Earth, population: zero. 27 00:01:42,375 --> 00:01:46,375 From coast to coast, shopping centers are abandoned. 28 00:01:46,542 --> 00:01:49,750 No sales clerks, no window shoppers, 29 00:01:49,875 --> 00:01:55,000 just aisle upon aisle of goods that'll never be bought. 30 00:01:55,125 --> 00:01:59,792 There are more than 300,000 grocery stores 31 00:01:59,917 --> 00:02:03,792 in the United States, containing enough chips, cheese, 32 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,625 and chocolate to cover an area the size of Rhode Island. 33 00:02:09,542 --> 00:02:12,083 This deserted grocery store was once filled 34 00:02:12,208 --> 00:02:13,333 with hungry families. 35 00:02:13,500 --> 00:02:15,250 Now, it's about to be bursting 36 00:02:15,375 --> 00:02:17,583 with a much different clientele. 37 00:02:18,542 --> 00:02:20,999 Keeping scavengers like rodents and insects 38 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:23,667 out of a grocery store is a full time job, 39 00:02:23,833 --> 00:02:26,332 and you do not get any days off. 40 00:02:26,333 --> 00:02:28,417 You've gotta be taking out the trash. 41 00:02:28,583 --> 00:02:30,000 You've gotta be setting out traps. 42 00:02:30,125 --> 00:02:31,832 You've gotta put out pesticides. 43 00:02:31,833 --> 00:02:33,167 In a world without people, 44 00:02:33,333 --> 00:02:35,792 it would probably be less than an hour 45 00:02:35,917 --> 00:02:37,083 before that invasion began. 46 00:02:39,708 --> 00:02:42,333 Mice are these crazy little food finding machines. 47 00:02:42,542 --> 00:02:46,167 They can detect food smells as far away as 50 feet, 48 00:02:46,292 --> 00:02:48,500 even if it's contained inside sealed plastic. 49 00:02:50,375 --> 00:02:53,458 Mice can actually compress their bodies 50 00:02:53,583 --> 00:02:58,083 so their bones collapse, especially their ribs. 51 00:02:58,250 --> 00:03:01,082 If their nose fits, so will the rest of them, 52 00:03:01,083 --> 00:03:04,167 even in holes as small as a dime. 53 00:03:06,083 --> 00:03:08,000 Mice are like walking biohazards. 54 00:03:08,125 --> 00:03:09,708 They pee constantly. 55 00:03:09,875 --> 00:03:14,457 Even when they're running, they poop like 75 times a day, 56 00:03:14,458 --> 00:03:17,958 and in that poop is all kind of disease and nasty. 57 00:03:20,042 --> 00:03:21,250 In the time of people, 58 00:03:21,417 --> 00:03:22,833 grocery chains spent millions 59 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,667 to keep an endless stream of filthy creatures at bay. 60 00:03:26,792 --> 00:03:31,291 Now, there's no one to set the traps or cover the holes, 61 00:03:31,292 --> 00:03:35,417 and the vermin aren't just eating, they're multiplying. 62 00:03:35,542 --> 00:03:37,167 A single female mouse 63 00:03:37,292 --> 00:03:40,500 can produce up to 50 offspring a year, 64 00:03:40,708 --> 00:03:44,167 and her offspring can start reproducing 65 00:03:44,292 --> 00:03:45,667 just nine weeks later. 66 00:03:45,833 --> 00:03:50,167 One family of mice can balloon up to 100,000 individuals 67 00:03:50,375 --> 00:03:51,708 in just a year. 68 00:03:52,708 --> 00:03:55,291 Back in 2021, Eastern Australia had what's known 69 00:03:55,292 --> 00:03:57,083 as a mouse plague, 70 00:03:57,208 --> 00:03:59,667 where basically they had a bumper crop, 71 00:03:59,833 --> 00:04:00,833 there was tons of food, 72 00:04:00,958 --> 00:04:04,250 and the mouse populations absolutely exploded. 73 00:04:04,375 --> 00:04:07,917 They were everywhere and they ate everything. 74 00:04:08,125 --> 00:04:11,500 Farmers describe carpets of mice. 75 00:04:11,625 --> 00:04:15,750 They devoured everything from crops to toilet paper. 76 00:04:20,208 --> 00:04:22,833 In the span of just 72 hours, 77 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,083 this store, once a monument to human plenty, 78 00:04:26,208 --> 00:04:28,417 is completely overrun. 79 00:04:28,583 --> 00:04:30,750 Rodents have claimed the aisles, 80 00:04:30,875 --> 00:04:34,458 feasting on the crumbs of a vanished civilization. 81 00:04:34,625 --> 00:04:38,083 The refrigerators and freezers are safe and untouched, 82 00:04:38,292 --> 00:04:39,667 but for how long? 83 00:04:46,542 --> 00:04:50,208 After people, there are no crews to fix downed lines, 84 00:04:50,375 --> 00:04:54,458 no technicians at the power plant, the grid fails, 85 00:04:54,583 --> 00:04:58,291 and the bright aisles are plunged into ghostly darkness, 86 00:04:58,292 --> 00:05:01,042 not just for the night, but forever. 87 00:05:02,875 --> 00:05:05,875 Once that refrigeration fails, the meat, the milk, 88 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:08,833 they're all gonna spoil and they'll give off rotting, 89 00:05:08,958 --> 00:05:10,125 very, very strong scent 90 00:05:10,250 --> 00:05:11,833 that's gonna be detectable from miles away 91 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:13,667 by various scavengers. 92 00:05:13,792 --> 00:05:17,250 Where mankind once held sway, mice now rule, 93 00:05:17,417 --> 00:05:18,792 but in a world without people, 94 00:05:18,917 --> 00:05:22,375 they won't stay on top of the food chain for long. 95 00:05:25,042 --> 00:05:28,791 In Bloomington, Minnesota lies the Mall of America. 96 00:05:28,792 --> 00:05:32,458 Once teeming with voices and footsteps, the hallways, 97 00:05:32,583 --> 00:05:37,083 stores, and kiosks are now still as a crypt. 98 00:05:37,208 --> 00:05:39,332 The largest shopping mall on the planet 99 00:05:39,333 --> 00:05:43,208 has become a mausoleum for the age of excess. 100 00:05:43,333 --> 00:05:46,000 The Mall of America is a retail colossus. 101 00:05:46,167 --> 00:05:47,500 It's bigger than Vatican City. 102 00:05:47,708 --> 00:05:50,000 If there was ever one place where you could shop 103 00:05:50,125 --> 00:05:52,917 until you drop, this is it. 104 00:05:53,042 --> 00:05:56,708 You've got over 500 stores, a roller coaster, 105 00:05:56,875 --> 00:06:00,583 high fashion, fine dining, fast food, 106 00:06:00,708 --> 00:06:03,624 an aquarium, designer jewelry, 107 00:06:03,625 --> 00:06:08,625 not to mention 30,000 plants growing inside the mall. 108 00:06:10,708 --> 00:06:14,291 After people, the mall seems unchanged, 109 00:06:14,292 --> 00:06:18,167 but a threat has been lurking in the shadows the whole time, 110 00:06:18,333 --> 00:06:19,958 quiet and patient, 111 00:06:20,083 --> 00:06:24,500 waiting for the right moment to unleash hell. 112 00:06:24,625 --> 00:06:28,208 The Mall of America is so big that it has not one, 113 00:06:28,333 --> 00:06:29,708 but two food courts 114 00:06:29,875 --> 00:06:33,208 in addition to 50 standalone restaurants. 115 00:06:33,375 --> 00:06:37,375 What happens if one gas burner is left on? 116 00:06:40,167 --> 00:06:42,542 You've got pots and pans sitting on top of those stoves. 117 00:06:42,667 --> 00:06:44,000 Some of them are gonna have cooking grease in them, 118 00:06:44,125 --> 00:06:47,166 and the thing about cooking grease is, unlike gasoline, 119 00:06:47,167 --> 00:06:49,208 it doesn't need a spark to ignite, 120 00:06:49,375 --> 00:06:50,541 it just has to get hot enough. 121 00:06:50,542 --> 00:06:52,375 So, as those flames go, 122 00:06:52,500 --> 00:06:54,833 eventually they're gonna heat it up to 450 123 00:06:55,042 --> 00:06:59,958 to 700 degrees Fahrenheit, and that thing is gonna go boom. 124 00:07:07,167 --> 00:07:08,833 Flames suddenly erupt 125 00:07:08,958 --> 00:07:11,667 and quickly consume everything in their path. 126 00:07:11,833 --> 00:07:14,667 The food court is eating itself alive, 127 00:07:15,917 --> 00:07:18,875 but the mall has a secret hidden deep within its bones, 128 00:07:19,042 --> 00:07:21,917 a fully automated fire suppression system 129 00:07:22,042 --> 00:07:24,000 that's long been dormant. 130 00:07:24,125 --> 00:07:25,624 The system isn't triggered by smoke, 131 00:07:25,625 --> 00:07:27,542 it reacts to intense heat. 132 00:07:27,667 --> 00:07:29,708 So heat-sensitive liquid inside 133 00:07:29,833 --> 00:07:32,250 of the small glass bulb gets hotter and hotter, 134 00:07:32,375 --> 00:07:33,667 then the bulb shatters 135 00:07:33,792 --> 00:07:35,792 and it releases a torrent of pressurized water. 136 00:07:36,833 --> 00:07:38,624 The system now wakes 137 00:07:38,625 --> 00:07:41,624 to wage one final battle against the blaze. 138 00:07:41,625 --> 00:07:43,333 The brilliant thing about this system 139 00:07:43,500 --> 00:07:45,332 is that it doesn't rely on electricity. 140 00:07:45,333 --> 00:07:47,500 It works on gravity-powered water pressure 141 00:07:47,708 --> 00:07:48,708 from the building's main supply. 142 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:51,833 So, if the power goes out and there is a fire, 143 00:07:51,958 --> 00:07:54,500 you still have a way to extinguish the fire 144 00:07:54,708 --> 00:07:56,917 because the gravity pressure is always there 145 00:07:57,042 --> 00:07:58,417 and ready to go. 146 00:08:03,708 --> 00:08:06,625 Here's the problem, when a fire sprinkler is activated, 147 00:08:06,792 --> 00:08:09,833 it will run until it gets shut off manually. 148 00:08:09,958 --> 00:08:11,666 But in a world where everyone's disappeared, 149 00:08:11,667 --> 00:08:13,875 no one is there to shut it off manually. 150 00:08:15,083 --> 00:08:18,666 It takes more than a week for the tanks to run dry, 151 00:08:18,667 --> 00:08:20,417 a week of constantly drenching 152 00:08:20,583 --> 00:08:23,083 and soaking everything underneath that sprinkler head. 153 00:08:27,083 --> 00:08:28,832 Just a few hundred yards away 154 00:08:28,833 --> 00:08:32,583 in the heart of the mall, there are no flames, no water. 155 00:08:33,875 --> 00:08:35,999 It's kind of like a building on fire across town. 156 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:37,833 It's not happening in your neighborhood, 157 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:39,624 you probably wouldn't even notice it. 158 00:08:39,625 --> 00:08:41,375 But even after people, 159 00:08:41,542 --> 00:08:43,875 the mall isn't completely abandoned. 160 00:08:44,042 --> 00:08:47,583 The security guards still keep watch. 161 00:08:47,708 --> 00:08:50,999 The Mall of America has this team of highly trained dogs, 162 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:52,499 and they have a few different jobs, 163 00:08:52,500 --> 00:08:54,000 one of which is to guard the mall itself, 164 00:08:54,167 --> 00:08:57,208 but the other one is to sniff out things like drugs 165 00:08:57,375 --> 00:08:59,625 and explosives and firearms. 166 00:08:59,750 --> 00:09:02,750 Dogs have an exceptional sense of smell. 167 00:09:02,875 --> 00:09:07,000 They can smell fear in the different chemicals given off 168 00:09:07,167 --> 00:09:11,708 by the sweat and saliva of anxious people. 169 00:09:11,917 --> 00:09:16,042 Guard dogs can tell you who is nervous, who is angry, 170 00:09:16,167 --> 00:09:18,417 or who is afraid. 171 00:09:18,542 --> 00:09:20,667 Their human handlers may be gone, 172 00:09:20,833 --> 00:09:23,583 but even in the loneliness and silence, 173 00:09:23,708 --> 00:09:26,792 the dog's instinct to survive remains. 174 00:09:26,917 --> 00:09:29,666 There would be a lot of food sources in the mall. 175 00:09:29,667 --> 00:09:31,833 I mean, all those standalone restaurants, 176 00:09:31,958 --> 00:09:34,500 and there's another food court and another one. 177 00:09:34,667 --> 00:09:35,875 And dogs are omnivores. 178 00:09:36,250 --> 00:09:39,708 I mean, for a while, there would be plenty for them to eat. 179 00:09:39,833 --> 00:09:41,333 The members of the K-9 unit 180 00:09:41,458 --> 00:09:42,667 are on their own. 181 00:09:42,792 --> 00:09:44,792 But even here in the echoes 182 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:47,791 and memories of a dead civilization, 183 00:09:47,792 --> 00:09:50,125 some warmth still lingers. 184 00:09:53,958 --> 00:09:55,000 Even without electricity, 185 00:09:55,292 --> 00:09:58,208 the mall is still going to trap the heat inside, 186 00:09:58,375 --> 00:09:59,625 and it's designed that way 187 00:09:59,792 --> 00:10:00,833 so that it releases the heat when needed. 188 00:10:00,958 --> 00:10:03,625 This is a clever bit of engineering. 189 00:10:03,792 --> 00:10:05,750 The Mall of America has passive heating. 190 00:10:05,875 --> 00:10:07,708 It doesn't really have a furnace system, 191 00:10:07,875 --> 00:10:09,833 which might surprise you given where it's located, 192 00:10:09,958 --> 00:10:11,667 and that's because it uses skylights 193 00:10:11,833 --> 00:10:13,333 to allow solar heating. 194 00:10:14,542 --> 00:10:17,208 Sunlight streams in through more than 1,300 skylights. 195 00:10:17,375 --> 00:10:19,292 It hits concrete, it hits walls, 196 00:10:19,458 --> 00:10:20,667 it basically hits everything 197 00:10:20,792 --> 00:10:22,833 and warms them up during the day. 198 00:10:22,958 --> 00:10:25,124 But then at night, when it gets cold outside, 199 00:10:25,125 --> 00:10:27,833 all that heat that's been trapped indoors 200 00:10:27,958 --> 00:10:29,833 gets released into the air. 201 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:32,207 So, what ends up happening is the mall stays a nice, 202 00:10:32,208 --> 00:10:35,375 constant temperature despite the fluctuations outside. 203 00:10:37,333 --> 00:10:39,667 The K-9 unit is safe for now, 204 00:10:39,792 --> 00:10:41,500 but a silent danger is lurking 205 00:10:41,708 --> 00:10:43,917 in the polished hallways of the mall. 206 00:10:45,083 --> 00:10:47,916 There's an electric vehicle on display with a powerful 207 00:10:47,917 --> 00:10:51,833 and dangerous lithium-ion battery under the hood. 208 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:54,749 After people, it isn't just a car, 209 00:10:54,750 --> 00:10:57,833 it's an explosive waiting for ignition. 210 00:11:04,333 --> 00:11:07,000 Three days after people, and the beating heart 211 00:11:07,167 --> 00:11:09,458 of the global supply chain has flatlined. 212 00:11:11,125 --> 00:11:13,583 China is the crucial player 213 00:11:13,708 --> 00:11:15,375 behind almost all the shopping we do. 214 00:11:15,542 --> 00:11:17,999 China alone produces over 30% 215 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:21,167 of the world's global manufacturing output. 216 00:11:21,333 --> 00:11:23,332 Millions of tons of fuel, chemicals, 217 00:11:23,333 --> 00:11:26,583 and consumer goods once passed through the Port of Shanghai, 218 00:11:26,708 --> 00:11:29,166 the biggest and busiest port on Earth. 219 00:11:29,167 --> 00:11:30,292 Now it's abandoned, 220 00:11:30,458 --> 00:11:33,250 a ghost town at the mouth of the Yangtze River. 221 00:11:35,167 --> 00:11:38,167 Normally, over 13,000 people keep the port running. 222 00:11:38,333 --> 00:11:42,958 It's 125 docks spanning over 12 miles, 223 00:11:43,083 --> 00:11:45,541 and there're these towering ship-to-shore cranes. 224 00:11:45,542 --> 00:11:47,542 Some are over 400 feet tall, 225 00:11:47,708 --> 00:11:50,250 loading over 200 cargo ships daily. 226 00:11:52,042 --> 00:11:54,167 Every year, the Port of Shanghai handles 227 00:11:54,333 --> 00:11:58,542 50 million containers, nearly 750 million tons of cargo, 228 00:11:58,708 --> 00:12:00,166 and fully half of that is retail, 229 00:12:00,167 --> 00:12:02,833 clothing, food, electronics, you name it. 230 00:12:05,333 --> 00:12:07,500 The Port of Shanghai ships out enough retail goods 231 00:12:07,667 --> 00:12:11,833 to stock the entire Mall of America a thousand times. 232 00:12:13,208 --> 00:12:15,333 Now, there is no one to man the controls, 233 00:12:15,458 --> 00:12:17,000 no one to watch over the docks, 234 00:12:17,125 --> 00:12:19,583 no one to guide ships to shore. 235 00:12:19,708 --> 00:12:21,250 It isn't just deserted, 236 00:12:21,375 --> 00:12:24,542 it's a disaster playing out minute by minute. 237 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:28,792 Best case, a ship will run aground. 238 00:12:28,917 --> 00:12:32,500 Worst case, it will slam right into the docks. 239 00:12:32,625 --> 00:12:33,708 Laden with cargo, 240 00:12:33,875 --> 00:12:36,500 a ship weighing over 100,000 tons 241 00:12:36,625 --> 00:12:38,750 blindly caroms into the dock, 242 00:12:45,167 --> 00:12:48,332 with a force of almost 35,000 cars crashing 243 00:12:48,333 --> 00:12:50,292 into it at once. 244 00:12:50,417 --> 00:12:52,500 In the harbor, you've got dozens of ships 245 00:12:52,667 --> 00:12:53,875 that are out of control, 246 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:58,208 smashing into the docks and knocking down cranes. 247 00:13:08,292 --> 00:13:09,708 The shriek of twisting metal 248 00:13:09,833 --> 00:13:12,124 isn't a death knell, it's a warning. 249 00:13:12,125 --> 00:13:14,833 An even greater danger is sealed in thousands 250 00:13:14,958 --> 00:13:18,125 of shipping containers stacked high on turbulent decks, 251 00:13:18,250 --> 00:13:21,042 waiting to open like Pandora's Box. 252 00:13:21,958 --> 00:13:23,917 It's not just sneakers and smartphones 253 00:13:24,042 --> 00:13:25,375 that are making their way through our ports, 254 00:13:25,542 --> 00:13:28,999 it's objects for medical research, live viruses, 255 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:31,124 corrosive chemicals, crude oil, 256 00:13:31,125 --> 00:13:33,250 even military supplies like ammunition 257 00:13:33,375 --> 00:13:35,417 or nuclear fuel rods. 258 00:13:35,583 --> 00:13:38,250 You'd have the normal chemical and electrical fire, 259 00:13:38,375 --> 00:13:40,791 but you'd also have acid melting through structures, 260 00:13:40,792 --> 00:13:43,000 live rounds going off, 261 00:13:43,167 --> 00:13:46,375 shipping containers full of fireworks exploding. 262 00:13:47,625 --> 00:13:49,667 The port wouldn't just be destroyed, 263 00:13:49,792 --> 00:13:51,832 it would go out with quite a bang. 264 00:13:54,083 --> 00:13:56,457 The carnage doesn't end at the docks, 265 00:13:56,458 --> 00:13:58,458 it spills out into the water 266 00:13:58,583 --> 00:14:01,042 where ghost ships list and burn, 267 00:14:01,208 --> 00:14:04,000 cargo plunges into the harbor by the ton, 268 00:14:04,125 --> 00:14:07,500 never to arrive at its original destination. 269 00:14:13,958 --> 00:14:19,457 Far from the broken, burning port, one giant escaped. 270 00:14:19,458 --> 00:14:23,666 She sails the open ocean alone with no one at the helm. 271 00:14:23,667 --> 00:14:28,292 One of the largest container ships ever built, the Oslo. 272 00:14:29,208 --> 00:14:31,958 It's known as a ultra large container vessel, 273 00:14:32,125 --> 00:14:34,917 with emphasis on "ultra large." 274 00:14:35,083 --> 00:14:37,666 It's as long as four city blocks, 275 00:14:37,667 --> 00:14:40,624 as wide as a eight-lane highway, 276 00:14:40,625 --> 00:14:44,167 and it has an engine the size of a three-story house. 277 00:14:46,375 --> 00:14:48,457 It's a hundred feet shorter than the Sears Tower, 278 00:14:48,458 --> 00:14:50,500 the most famous skyscraper in Chicago, 279 00:14:50,667 --> 00:14:52,583 if it were laid on its side. 280 00:14:52,708 --> 00:14:53,875 It's hard to imagine 281 00:14:54,167 --> 00:14:58,333 that it can hold almost 24,000 shipping containers. 282 00:14:59,875 --> 00:15:02,000 Think of it carrying nothing but sneakers. 283 00:15:02,125 --> 00:15:05,875 It would be enough for every single person in California, 284 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:08,167 Texas, and New York. 285 00:15:09,875 --> 00:15:12,375 The Oslo is bound for Los Angeles, 286 00:15:12,542 --> 00:15:16,708 an unmanned specter on a three-week voyage from Shanghai. 287 00:15:16,833 --> 00:15:21,042 Her fuel tanks are still full, her engines still humming, 288 00:15:21,208 --> 00:15:23,166 but not every vessel is lucky enough 289 00:15:23,167 --> 00:15:25,208 to share the Oslo's fate. 290 00:15:30,458 --> 00:15:34,833 Loss of power on a large ship can be extremely dangerous. 291 00:15:35,042 --> 00:15:36,832 Even when a container ship has full crew 292 00:15:36,833 --> 00:15:38,375 and full power, 293 00:15:38,542 --> 00:15:41,667 it still takes 29 minutes for it to go from full speed 294 00:15:41,833 --> 00:15:43,417 to a complete stop, 295 00:15:43,583 --> 00:15:46,458 and it covers four miles while it's trying to slow down. 296 00:15:52,583 --> 00:15:55,250 A derelict tanker, lifeless but deadly, 297 00:15:55,417 --> 00:15:58,250 is drifting straight into the Oslo's path. 298 00:15:58,375 --> 00:16:02,792 She carries no crew, only cargo sealed in her belly. 299 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,417 Three million gallons of jet fuel. 300 00:16:11,208 --> 00:16:14,833 Far from the Pacific Ocean, deep in America's heartland, 301 00:16:14,958 --> 00:16:18,000 a different kind of disaster is unfolding. 302 00:16:18,167 --> 00:16:19,999 Inside the Mall of America, 303 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:22,375 the sprinklers have been inundating the mall 304 00:16:22,583 --> 00:16:23,916 for nearly a week. 305 00:16:23,917 --> 00:16:25,917 There's no one to turn them off, 306 00:16:26,042 --> 00:16:28,542 and the charred food court is drowning. 307 00:16:35,583 --> 00:16:38,042 Many large commercial buildings, 308 00:16:38,250 --> 00:16:40,292 especially food courts, have built in drains, you know, 309 00:16:40,417 --> 00:16:42,666 to handle spills and regular cleaning, 310 00:16:42,667 --> 00:16:44,042 but they'd struggle to keep up 311 00:16:44,167 --> 00:16:46,708 with an active sprinkler system running nonstop 312 00:16:46,875 --> 00:16:48,167 for more than a week. 313 00:16:49,792 --> 00:16:52,208 The system has finally run out of water, 314 00:16:52,333 --> 00:16:56,167 and the sprinklers have stopped flowing, but it's too late. 315 00:16:56,333 --> 00:16:58,375 Deep inside the structure's skeleton, 316 00:16:58,500 --> 00:17:03,042 decay is taking root and spreading like a virus. 317 00:17:04,125 --> 00:17:05,749 The extreme heat from the fire has weakened 318 00:17:05,750 --> 00:17:08,625 the steel support beams, then comes the water, 319 00:17:08,792 --> 00:17:13,167 tons of it seeping into every crack, soaking the walls, 320 00:17:13,292 --> 00:17:15,542 and pooling on weakened floors. 321 00:17:17,042 --> 00:17:19,666 Fire turns solid materials brittle 322 00:17:19,667 --> 00:17:21,208 and vulnerable to collapse. 323 00:17:27,875 --> 00:17:29,000 Weeks pass, 324 00:17:29,167 --> 00:17:31,333 and the flood waters start to subside, 325 00:17:31,500 --> 00:17:34,458 but now the temperature is falling. 326 00:17:35,708 --> 00:17:38,000 The explosion and the fire would've knocked out some 327 00:17:38,167 --> 00:17:40,042 of the eight acres of skylights in the mall, 328 00:17:40,167 --> 00:17:41,500 and where it's located, 329 00:17:41,667 --> 00:17:44,083 well, winters can be especially brutal. 330 00:17:44,208 --> 00:17:46,208 Now, if an arctic cold front rolls in, 331 00:17:46,375 --> 00:17:48,667 well, temperatures can drop by as much as 40 degrees 332 00:17:48,833 --> 00:17:50,083 in a single day. 333 00:17:51,292 --> 00:17:55,000 The coldest temperature ever recorded in Minnesota 334 00:17:55,125 --> 00:17:57,875 is more than 60 degrees below zero. 335 00:17:59,708 --> 00:18:03,042 All that pooling water would quickly freeze, 336 00:18:03,208 --> 00:18:05,167 stopping up the drains. 337 00:18:06,958 --> 00:18:10,208 Bloomington gets an average of 50 inches of snow per year. 338 00:18:12,333 --> 00:18:14,167 In a couple of weeks, worst case scenario, 339 00:18:14,333 --> 00:18:17,208 up to 2,000 tons of snow when ice could accumulate. 340 00:18:17,375 --> 00:18:20,375 That's about the weight of four Boeing 747s, 341 00:18:21,750 --> 00:18:24,166 and all that weight is piled on top of floors 342 00:18:24,167 --> 00:18:25,833 and supports that have already suffered 343 00:18:25,958 --> 00:18:27,542 a great deal of water damage. 344 00:18:29,250 --> 00:18:32,333 An unearthly groan breaks the eerie silence 345 00:18:32,542 --> 00:18:36,167 inside the mall, and the floor, swollen with water 346 00:18:36,333 --> 00:18:40,125 and splintered by ice, finally succumbs. 347 00:18:51,208 --> 00:18:53,083 That collapse would be devastating, 348 00:18:53,208 --> 00:18:57,124 and the floor beneath would be smashed by ice 349 00:18:57,125 --> 00:19:00,708 and concrete weighing thousands of tons. 350 00:19:09,417 --> 00:19:10,708 One wing of the mall 351 00:19:10,833 --> 00:19:12,625 is a tangled mass of metal, 352 00:19:12,750 --> 00:19:16,042 glass, and stone, but on the other side, 353 00:19:16,208 --> 00:19:18,708 sun still pours through the skylights 354 00:19:18,875 --> 00:19:22,667 and the deserted shops and stalls remain intact. 355 00:19:22,833 --> 00:19:27,417 Where humanity once shopped, the K-9 unit now prowls, 356 00:19:27,542 --> 00:19:29,708 scavenging to survive. 357 00:19:32,250 --> 00:19:34,583 K-9 units typically keep about a month's worth 358 00:19:34,708 --> 00:19:35,458 of kibble on hand, 359 00:19:35,792 --> 00:19:38,292 but even after the fresh food starts to rot, 360 00:19:38,417 --> 00:19:40,167 the dogs are gonna be okay, 361 00:19:40,292 --> 00:19:42,583 because dogs are not picky eaters. 362 00:19:44,042 --> 00:19:47,833 Things like chips, crackers, packaged ramen noodles, 363 00:19:47,958 --> 00:19:52,167 cured and dried meats, like pepperoni, hot dogs, jerky, 364 00:19:52,333 --> 00:19:54,167 the dogs will be having a feast, 365 00:19:54,292 --> 00:19:56,458 that is if they're the only ones eating it. 366 00:19:57,542 --> 00:20:01,332 The 14,000 acre Minnesota Valley Wildlife Refuge 367 00:20:01,333 --> 00:20:03,583 is less than two miles away. 368 00:20:04,833 --> 00:20:09,291 Once a sanctuary, now it's a launching ground for invasion. 369 00:20:18,292 --> 00:20:20,333 Two weeks after people, 370 00:20:20,500 --> 00:20:24,167 mice have infested every corner of the grocery store, 371 00:20:24,292 --> 00:20:26,332 feasting, nesting, and gnawing 372 00:20:26,333 --> 00:20:29,500 through everything on shelf after shelf. 373 00:20:29,667 --> 00:20:33,875 Now the smell of decay is rising, rotting meat, 374 00:20:34,042 --> 00:20:37,542 rancid milk, a scent thick as smoke curling 375 00:20:37,708 --> 00:20:40,583 through broken doors and shattered glass. 376 00:20:40,750 --> 00:20:44,000 It's like an invitation to hungry creatures, 377 00:20:44,167 --> 00:20:46,667 and something bigger is coming. 378 00:20:48,208 --> 00:20:49,583 Rats have a sense of smell 379 00:20:49,750 --> 00:20:52,750 that's even more sensitive than mice. 380 00:20:52,917 --> 00:20:56,333 Rats can smell through walls and underground. 381 00:20:56,458 --> 00:20:59,583 Rats have been trained to smell for unexploded landmines 382 00:20:59,708 --> 00:21:00,708 in war zones. 383 00:21:00,875 --> 00:21:04,333 They can smell tuberculosis on patients. 384 00:21:04,500 --> 00:21:06,833 Rats swarm into the store, 385 00:21:06,958 --> 00:21:10,458 ravenous and ruthless, drawn by the promise of food, 386 00:21:10,667 --> 00:21:13,292 and they're not leaving until they get it. 387 00:21:13,417 --> 00:21:15,667 Rats and mice really do compete for resources, 388 00:21:15,833 --> 00:21:17,792 but frankly, it's not much of a competition. 389 00:21:17,958 --> 00:21:19,208 Mice weigh about one ounce, 390 00:21:19,375 --> 00:21:22,000 whereas rats, 16 times that, a full pound. 391 00:21:22,167 --> 00:21:23,333 It's like a toddler 392 00:21:23,542 --> 00:21:25,375 trying to fight a high school linebacker. 393 00:21:25,500 --> 00:21:27,042 It's not a fair fight. 394 00:21:27,208 --> 00:21:28,708 Rats are way bigger than mice. 395 00:21:28,875 --> 00:21:30,499 There are occasions where mice and rats 396 00:21:30,500 --> 00:21:32,292 can coexist peacefully, 397 00:21:32,458 --> 00:21:36,125 but it's only when food is in plentiful supply. 398 00:21:36,292 --> 00:21:38,500 The rodents feast side by side, 399 00:21:38,667 --> 00:21:41,542 an unspoken and uncomfortable truce. 400 00:21:41,708 --> 00:21:45,125 But each day, the flesh spoils a little more. 401 00:21:45,292 --> 00:21:47,958 The scent thickens, the color turns, 402 00:21:48,125 --> 00:21:51,000 the meat is rotting into poison. 403 00:21:51,125 --> 00:21:54,542 Mice will eat spoiled meat, but only up to a point. 404 00:21:54,667 --> 00:21:56,667 Rats have stronger stomach acid 405 00:21:56,833 --> 00:21:59,542 so they can eat more spoiled meat, 406 00:21:59,708 --> 00:22:01,250 but even rats have a breaking point. 407 00:22:01,417 --> 00:22:03,500 And when it comes to things like botulism, 408 00:22:03,625 --> 00:22:06,792 that is just as bad for rats as it is for us. 409 00:22:06,958 --> 00:22:08,625 When they get foodborne illnesses, 410 00:22:08,792 --> 00:22:10,625 pretty much the same symptoms. 411 00:22:10,792 --> 00:22:12,667 Vomiting, diarrhea, nausea. 412 00:22:12,833 --> 00:22:13,833 You can try to imagine what it's like 413 00:22:14,208 --> 00:22:17,167 when thousands of rodents get diarrhea all at once, 414 00:22:17,292 --> 00:22:18,708 but we'll let that pass. 415 00:22:19,833 --> 00:22:22,500 Even after the mice and the rats are done with it, 416 00:22:22,667 --> 00:22:24,625 that meat will not go to waste. 417 00:22:24,792 --> 00:22:28,292 It will start to rot, and the flies will descend on it, 418 00:22:28,458 --> 00:22:30,000 and they will begin laying their eggs 419 00:22:30,208 --> 00:22:32,667 in every moist crevice. 420 00:22:32,875 --> 00:22:35,917 And then within days, that rotting meat 421 00:22:36,042 --> 00:22:40,875 will be effectively reanimated with wriggling maggots. 422 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:46,000 Rats and mice both eat insects and their larvae. 423 00:22:46,167 --> 00:22:49,750 To us, maggots are disgusting nightmare fuel. 424 00:22:49,917 --> 00:22:52,292 But to them, it's just a good source of protein. 425 00:22:52,458 --> 00:22:53,667 As the maggots eat the meat 426 00:22:53,833 --> 00:22:55,500 and the rodents eat the maggots, 427 00:22:55,625 --> 00:22:57,833 the food source is gonna dwindle away altogether. 428 00:22:58,042 --> 00:22:59,833 And at that point, we're looking at a very 429 00:23:00,042 --> 00:23:02,583 intense competition between rats and mice. 430 00:23:02,750 --> 00:23:04,500 Two weeks after people, 431 00:23:04,625 --> 00:23:06,667 the scraps are fewer and fewer. 432 00:23:06,875 --> 00:23:09,583 The rats, bigger, faster, hungrier, 433 00:23:09,792 --> 00:23:12,792 do what survival demands, no hesitation. 434 00:23:12,958 --> 00:23:15,958 Just one species clawing its way to dominance. 435 00:23:17,542 --> 00:23:20,167 Rats are extremely aggressive and territorial. 436 00:23:20,375 --> 00:23:21,542 And if they're desperate enough for food, 437 00:23:21,708 --> 00:23:23,000 they'll kill and eat mice, 438 00:23:23,208 --> 00:23:25,750 which seems a little bit too close to cannibalism. 439 00:23:25,875 --> 00:23:29,083 Sometimes a rat just wants to show his dominance 440 00:23:29,292 --> 00:23:33,333 and teach the mice a lesson about, "This is my territory." 441 00:23:33,542 --> 00:23:36,500 It's like they kill the mice for sport. 442 00:23:36,667 --> 00:23:38,457 The rats have conquered the rivals, 443 00:23:38,458 --> 00:23:40,417 and settled into nest. 444 00:23:40,542 --> 00:23:42,958 In here, they're hidden and warm. 445 00:23:43,125 --> 00:23:47,667 But outside, Mother Nature is alive with silent menace, 446 00:23:47,833 --> 00:23:52,000 and the rats will soon be exposed to a new nightmare. 447 00:23:57,042 --> 00:24:00,500 Far out in the Pacific, with only autopilot to guide her, 448 00:24:00,708 --> 00:24:04,542 the Oslo has outrun storms and skirted ruin. 449 00:24:04,708 --> 00:24:08,750 The ocean may be vast, but fate is fickle. 450 00:24:08,917 --> 00:24:13,375 And now, a tanker carrying a million gallons of jet fuel 451 00:24:13,500 --> 00:24:16,250 is drifting right into the Oslo's path. 452 00:24:17,250 --> 00:24:18,582 The tanker's dead in the water, 453 00:24:18,583 --> 00:24:19,875 but the Oslo still has power, 454 00:24:20,083 --> 00:24:23,458 and a collision between them could be catastrophic, 455 00:24:23,583 --> 00:24:26,250 because even if it just starts a small fire, 456 00:24:26,417 --> 00:24:27,833 that's like dropping a match 457 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:31,125 onto 3 million gallons of jet fuel. 458 00:24:35,625 --> 00:24:37,750 On the empty bridge of the Oslo, 459 00:24:37,875 --> 00:24:40,833 a shrill collision alarm pierces the quiet, 460 00:24:40,958 --> 00:24:42,875 but there's no one to hear it. 461 00:24:43,042 --> 00:24:46,625 No hands on the helm, no one watching the horizon, 462 00:24:47,750 --> 00:24:50,875 and the ghost ship sails toward its own demise. 463 00:24:53,833 --> 00:24:55,667 It's very likely that the tanker's hull 464 00:24:55,875 --> 00:24:57,958 will be breached if there is a spark. 465 00:24:58,167 --> 00:25:01,083 And if that spark hit the fuel side of the tanker, 466 00:25:01,250 --> 00:25:02,333 watch out. 467 00:25:02,500 --> 00:25:04,667 It's gonna be a massive explosion. 468 00:25:09,042 --> 00:25:11,583 Any other ship within a three mile radius 469 00:25:11,750 --> 00:25:13,167 would be almost completely destroyed. 470 00:25:13,333 --> 00:25:15,499 Windows would be blown out, the decks would buckle, 471 00:25:15,500 --> 00:25:18,167 and smaller ships would capsize instantly. 472 00:25:19,667 --> 00:25:22,625 The blast is sudden and catastrophic. 473 00:25:22,792 --> 00:25:25,333 The Oslo is tossed like an unwanted toy 474 00:25:25,458 --> 00:25:27,875 in the hands of an angry sea. 475 00:25:28,042 --> 00:25:31,542 Her cargo ratchets snap one after another 476 00:25:31,667 --> 00:25:35,000 until 24,000 shipping containers tumble 477 00:25:35,167 --> 00:25:38,167 into the ocean like steel dominoes. 478 00:25:41,625 --> 00:25:42,875 When containers fall off a ship, 479 00:25:43,042 --> 00:25:46,333 some of them may stay intact when they hit the water. 480 00:25:46,542 --> 00:25:48,458 But they're not made to be airtight, 481 00:25:48,583 --> 00:25:50,333 they're made to be water resistant. 482 00:25:50,500 --> 00:25:52,791 So they may float for a little while, 483 00:25:52,792 --> 00:25:56,042 but then it's gonna sink. 484 00:25:56,208 --> 00:25:59,375 Many of them are basically just gonna like, pop open 485 00:25:59,542 --> 00:26:00,500 when they hit the water, 486 00:26:00,833 --> 00:26:03,458 spilling all of their contents into the water. 487 00:26:03,667 --> 00:26:04,833 It wouldn't be the first time. 488 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:07,333 There are many weird stories of strange objects 489 00:26:07,500 --> 00:26:11,375 washing ashore due to shipping containers falling overboard. 490 00:26:12,542 --> 00:26:15,332 For decades, there's this one beach in France 491 00:26:15,333 --> 00:26:19,542 where Garfield phones have been washing up every year. 492 00:26:19,708 --> 00:26:22,042 And it turns out it's because in the '80s, 493 00:26:22,250 --> 00:26:23,667 there was a shipping container full of them 494 00:26:23,833 --> 00:26:24,833 that sank nearby. 495 00:26:25,250 --> 00:26:28,250 Random Lego pieces still wash up on European beaches 496 00:26:28,417 --> 00:26:30,708 all the time because a shipping container full of those 497 00:26:30,917 --> 00:26:33,292 sank way back in the '90s. 498 00:26:34,375 --> 00:26:36,542 The Oslo makes its final delivery 499 00:26:36,708 --> 00:26:39,542 not to the port of Los Angeles as scheduled, 500 00:26:39,708 --> 00:26:42,708 but to the murky depths of the vast Pacific. 501 00:26:42,875 --> 00:26:46,417 Then she disappears into the far reaches of the ocean, 502 00:26:46,625 --> 00:26:48,333 left to her fate. 503 00:26:51,667 --> 00:26:53,375 One year after people, 504 00:26:53,583 --> 00:26:55,833 the once bright and sterile grocery stores 505 00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:59,250 that fed humanity are now dark, rotting, 506 00:26:59,458 --> 00:27:01,792 choked with dust and decay. 507 00:27:01,958 --> 00:27:04,417 Shelves that were once home to fresh foods 508 00:27:04,583 --> 00:27:07,375 and packaged goods are now home to rats, 509 00:27:07,542 --> 00:27:09,625 mice, and their nests. 510 00:27:09,792 --> 00:27:11,250 High above the vermin, 511 00:27:11,375 --> 00:27:15,583 barn owls perch in the rafters, watchful and hungry. 512 00:27:15,750 --> 00:27:18,000 Where once there was cleanliness in order, 513 00:27:18,208 --> 00:27:21,792 there's about to be something else, carnage. 514 00:27:28,583 --> 00:27:30,417 Two years after people, 515 00:27:30,625 --> 00:27:32,833 grocery stores are overrun with prey 516 00:27:32,958 --> 00:27:35,208 and the predators that feast on them. 517 00:27:35,375 --> 00:27:37,750 Here, the air is thick with rot, 518 00:27:37,875 --> 00:27:40,417 the floor rides with desperate rodents, 519 00:27:40,583 --> 00:27:43,167 and the rafters team with deadly hunters. 520 00:27:44,875 --> 00:27:47,208 This environment is tailor-made for barn owls. 521 00:27:47,375 --> 00:27:51,000 They get their name, barn owls, because they like to live 522 00:27:51,167 --> 00:27:53,167 in human-built structures like barns, 523 00:27:53,292 --> 00:27:55,708 and farmers actually encourage them to be there, 524 00:27:55,875 --> 00:27:58,708 because they're like natural pest control. 525 00:28:00,417 --> 00:28:01,833 Barn owls have some of the most 526 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,083 sensitive ears on the planet, 527 00:28:04,208 --> 00:28:07,792 helping them triangulate and pinpoint sounds 528 00:28:07,917 --> 00:28:10,833 as soft as the heartbeat of a mouse. 529 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:12,708 The average barn owl can consume 530 00:28:12,875 --> 00:28:13,833 about three animals a night. 531 00:28:14,250 --> 00:28:16,417 So with all of these rats around, it would be a feast. 532 00:28:16,625 --> 00:28:17,833 And the owls would end up consuming 533 00:28:17,958 --> 00:28:19,458 up to 1,000 rats a year. 534 00:28:20,542 --> 00:28:21,917 The food being devoured 535 00:28:22,083 --> 00:28:24,500 inside this grocery store bears little resemblance 536 00:28:24,667 --> 00:28:26,750 to what once filled shopping carts. 537 00:28:27,792 --> 00:28:29,083 But the building itself, 538 00:28:29,208 --> 00:28:32,625 though cracked and sagging, still stands. 539 00:28:32,750 --> 00:28:34,417 But for how long? 540 00:28:38,667 --> 00:28:41,500 In the Mall of America where eager crowds 541 00:28:41,667 --> 00:28:44,125 once gathered to buy the latest trends, 542 00:28:44,250 --> 00:28:47,292 all that's left is silence and darkness. 543 00:28:47,458 --> 00:28:51,208 Now, wolves from the nearby wildlife refuge 544 00:28:51,375 --> 00:28:55,167 prowl through the shadows, lured by the scent of food, 545 00:28:55,375 --> 00:29:00,333 and the K-9 unit watches, ready to protect what's theirs. 546 00:29:01,833 --> 00:29:03,250 Dogs can be very territorial 547 00:29:03,417 --> 00:29:05,375 when it comes to protecting their resources. 548 00:29:05,542 --> 00:29:07,666 The K-9 unit would've made them all its home, 549 00:29:07,667 --> 00:29:09,499 and become protective of that territory. 550 00:29:09,500 --> 00:29:12,292 Now remember, these dogs haven't been raised in the wild, 551 00:29:12,417 --> 00:29:14,708 so they wouldn't be particularly good hunters. 552 00:29:14,875 --> 00:29:16,375 They would be very interested 553 00:29:16,500 --> 00:29:19,458 in protecting their territory and their food supply. 554 00:29:19,625 --> 00:29:21,250 Unfortunately for the dogs, 555 00:29:21,375 --> 00:29:24,292 the wolves are not just bigger and stronger. 556 00:29:24,417 --> 00:29:27,667 They've been living like this for their entire lives. 557 00:29:27,833 --> 00:29:29,667 While the dogs are trained to do things 558 00:29:29,833 --> 00:29:31,208 that humans want them to do, 559 00:29:31,375 --> 00:29:33,958 these wolves have been surviving in the wild 560 00:29:34,083 --> 00:29:35,917 and up against competition, 561 00:29:36,083 --> 00:29:38,792 so chances are, they're gonna win. 562 00:29:39,667 --> 00:29:41,000 The wolves hunt as a pack, 563 00:29:41,167 --> 00:29:44,125 moving as one to corner one of the K-9s. 564 00:29:44,333 --> 00:29:48,125 Slowly, step by step, they isolate their prey. 565 00:29:49,750 --> 00:29:52,792 Like a bolt of lightning, a wolf attacks. 566 00:29:54,333 --> 00:29:57,125 And the dogs have no choice but to flee. 567 00:30:04,125 --> 00:30:06,167 Now the wolves rule, 568 00:30:06,333 --> 00:30:09,250 but the building itself is already turning against them. 569 00:30:09,417 --> 00:30:11,000 After five years without people, 570 00:30:11,208 --> 00:30:12,958 the mall is going through several 571 00:30:13,083 --> 00:30:15,375 of the freeze-thaw cycles of the Minnesota winter. 572 00:30:15,583 --> 00:30:18,250 When it gets cold, water freezes, it expands, 573 00:30:18,375 --> 00:30:20,333 and when it thaws, and it contracts again. 574 00:30:20,458 --> 00:30:22,833 So that causes cracks 575 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:25,792 to appear in the structure all over the place, 576 00:30:25,917 --> 00:30:28,000 and it will eventually deteriorate. 577 00:30:28,208 --> 00:30:30,625 Some threats lie in plain sight, 578 00:30:30,792 --> 00:30:33,333 but others hide, biding their time. 579 00:30:33,542 --> 00:30:36,292 There's an electric vehicle kiosk in the mall. 580 00:30:36,417 --> 00:30:39,792 This sleek car on display may look innocent enough, 581 00:30:39,958 --> 00:30:42,917 but there's a danger lurking under the hood, 582 00:30:43,083 --> 00:30:46,083 a 100 kilowatt lithium ion battery. 583 00:30:46,250 --> 00:30:48,542 Lithium ion batteries are volatile. 584 00:30:48,708 --> 00:30:51,417 That's why you can't check them in your luggage on an airplane. 585 00:30:51,542 --> 00:30:55,208 If damaged, they can explode or catch fire. 586 00:30:55,375 --> 00:30:58,083 There was one incident in a Manhattan apartment building 587 00:30:58,250 --> 00:31:00,833 caused by a lithium ion battery in a bicycle 588 00:31:00,958 --> 00:31:02,833 where 38 people were injured. 589 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:04,833 An electric vehicle has a battery 590 00:31:04,958 --> 00:31:07,167 more than 100 times that strength. 591 00:31:08,667 --> 00:31:10,750 It's been five years since any human hands 592 00:31:10,875 --> 00:31:13,500 have swept the dust or patched the walls. 593 00:31:13,708 --> 00:31:14,833 With a shudder of neglect, 594 00:31:15,042 --> 00:31:16,917 a slab of ceiling breaks free, 595 00:31:17,125 --> 00:31:19,625 smashing into the display car below, 596 00:31:19,792 --> 00:31:21,833 and something begins to stir. 597 00:31:23,375 --> 00:31:24,750 If the battery's damaged, 598 00:31:24,875 --> 00:31:26,417 the lithium and the cobalt mix together, 599 00:31:26,583 --> 00:31:29,667 creating a short circuit, this can overheat things, 600 00:31:29,833 --> 00:31:32,667 causing a fire or even an explosion. 601 00:31:32,875 --> 00:31:36,124 This triggers a chain reaction known as a thermal runway. 602 00:31:36,125 --> 00:31:38,167 Meaning, it just gets hotter and hotter, 603 00:31:38,333 --> 00:31:40,292 and burns ever more vigorously. 604 00:31:40,417 --> 00:31:43,500 So this leads to a firestorm that doesn't stop 605 00:31:43,708 --> 00:31:45,208 until there's no more fuel left. 606 00:31:45,375 --> 00:31:47,375 That means everything has been burned. 607 00:31:47,542 --> 00:31:48,792 There can be thousands of cells 608 00:31:48,958 --> 00:31:50,458 in an electric car battery, 609 00:31:50,625 --> 00:31:53,000 so a fire could foreseeably burn for days and days on end 610 00:31:53,208 --> 00:31:54,958 with nothing to stop it. 611 00:31:55,083 --> 00:31:56,250 What began as a spark 612 00:31:56,417 --> 00:31:57,958 takes on a life of its own, 613 00:31:58,167 --> 00:32:00,167 moving through the mall with purpose, 614 00:32:00,333 --> 00:32:03,500 devouring anything it can find for fuel. 615 00:32:03,708 --> 00:32:05,167 Without human intervention, 616 00:32:05,333 --> 00:32:07,167 a fire like this could definitely gut 617 00:32:07,292 --> 00:32:09,375 an entire section of the mall, 618 00:32:09,542 --> 00:32:11,125 and it's definitely gonna scare away 619 00:32:11,250 --> 00:32:13,292 all the animals living here. 620 00:32:16,375 --> 00:32:18,250 The Mall of America, 621 00:32:18,417 --> 00:32:20,792 once hailed as a cathedral of commerce, 622 00:32:20,917 --> 00:32:23,000 now stands hollowed by flame. 623 00:32:23,125 --> 00:32:25,042 Its corridors blackened. 624 00:32:25,208 --> 00:32:27,833 Though some parts of the mall still stand, 625 00:32:27,958 --> 00:32:30,375 they're about to undergo a remodel 626 00:32:30,542 --> 00:32:33,625 no human being could ever have planned. 627 00:32:43,500 --> 00:32:45,917 Years ago, fire left the biggest mall 628 00:32:46,125 --> 00:32:48,250 in the world warped and charred. 629 00:32:48,375 --> 00:32:50,042 Even the beasts who prowled 630 00:32:50,167 --> 00:32:53,250 the once pristine hallways are gone now, 631 00:32:53,375 --> 00:32:56,000 leaving only silence and ruin. 632 00:32:56,208 --> 00:33:00,250 But in the dust and ashes, something new is stirring. 633 00:33:00,417 --> 00:33:03,000 Fires actually often make conditions better 634 00:33:03,125 --> 00:33:04,542 for plants to grow. 635 00:33:04,750 --> 00:33:06,250 When things like wood, plants, 636 00:33:06,417 --> 00:33:09,333 and seeds are burned into mineral-rich ash, 637 00:33:09,458 --> 00:33:12,250 those nutrients are recycled back into the soil, 638 00:33:12,458 --> 00:33:16,167 creating ideal growing conditions for new life to grow. 639 00:33:17,542 --> 00:33:19,875 The question becomes, where is this fertile soil? 640 00:33:20,042 --> 00:33:21,958 What I expect is the natural gardens 641 00:33:22,125 --> 00:33:23,542 that are in many of these malls, 642 00:33:23,708 --> 00:33:26,833 the water features, the little tree, and planted areas, 643 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:28,416 those actually become the point 644 00:33:28,417 --> 00:33:31,208 from which small jungles start to flourish. 645 00:33:32,083 --> 00:33:33,500 Seeds, pollen, and mushroom spores 646 00:33:33,708 --> 00:33:35,542 can be brought by the wind or the birds. 647 00:33:35,708 --> 00:33:37,999 Local birds might bring local plant species, 648 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:39,958 but migratory birds can bring seeds 649 00:33:40,083 --> 00:33:42,625 from hundreds or even thousands of miles away. 650 00:33:43,958 --> 00:33:45,667 From every crack in the concrete, 651 00:33:45,875 --> 00:33:50,167 roots rise like fingers, clawing for a second chance. 652 00:33:50,375 --> 00:33:54,208 They're silent and relentless, and they're spreading. 653 00:33:54,417 --> 00:33:56,417 They'll expand the cracks and crevices. 654 00:33:56,583 --> 00:34:00,833 That lets in more soil, more seeds, and more water. 655 00:34:01,042 --> 00:34:02,875 And then the whole cycle just continues. 656 00:34:05,583 --> 00:34:08,250 While the natural world withers, rots, 657 00:34:08,375 --> 00:34:12,250 and blooms again, 30 years after people, 658 00:34:12,375 --> 00:34:15,167 grocery stores all over the world are sagging 659 00:34:15,333 --> 00:34:18,292 under their own weight, bending, cracking, 660 00:34:18,458 --> 00:34:20,792 and coming apart at the seams. 661 00:34:22,542 --> 00:34:25,375 Retail companies focus on profit, not permanence. 662 00:34:25,542 --> 00:34:27,167 These stores are built with cheap materials, 663 00:34:27,292 --> 00:34:29,750 and frankly, they're easier to replace than to repair. 664 00:34:29,875 --> 00:34:32,167 So these stores are designed to last for about 50 years. 665 00:34:32,292 --> 00:34:33,583 And without maintenance, 666 00:34:33,750 --> 00:34:36,292 they'd fall apart a lot sooner than that. 667 00:34:36,500 --> 00:34:38,167 Once a beacon of abundance, 668 00:34:38,375 --> 00:34:41,167 this grocery store is now a hollow shell. 669 00:34:41,375 --> 00:34:43,958 All it will take is one bolt of lightning, 670 00:34:44,125 --> 00:34:46,917 one burst of wind, and a humble thunderstorm 671 00:34:47,083 --> 00:34:50,250 will bring it all crashing down. 672 00:34:50,375 --> 00:34:52,708 A big box store is highly vulnerable. 673 00:34:52,833 --> 00:34:56,250 It has a large, flat roof and a nice, sharp edge. 674 00:34:56,375 --> 00:34:58,332 So as wind comes over that sharp edge, 675 00:34:58,333 --> 00:35:01,250 it separates the flow, creating a vortex, 676 00:35:01,375 --> 00:35:03,208 or a whirlpool that's spinning in the air. 677 00:35:03,375 --> 00:35:05,333 You can't see it, but it's there. 678 00:35:05,500 --> 00:35:08,583 As it's spinning, it is creating suction 679 00:35:08,708 --> 00:35:11,041 that is pulling up on the edge of the roof. 680 00:35:17,375 --> 00:35:18,583 When that suction gets high enough, 681 00:35:18,708 --> 00:35:20,417 it will literally start to peel the roof back 682 00:35:20,542 --> 00:35:22,292 just like the lid on a tin of sardines. 683 00:35:22,417 --> 00:35:24,000 Eventually, it'll take the whole thing off. 684 00:35:37,083 --> 00:35:40,332 Amid the shattered glass and collapsing beams, 685 00:35:40,333 --> 00:35:42,833 a few relics are scattered in the rubble, 686 00:35:42,958 --> 00:35:45,499 untouched by time or rot, 687 00:35:45,500 --> 00:35:48,375 and one of them is still safe to eat. 688 00:35:48,542 --> 00:35:51,375 Honey is nature's ultimate preservative. 689 00:35:51,500 --> 00:35:54,832 It basically lasts forever because it's acidic, 690 00:35:54,833 --> 00:35:57,750 and it contains almost no water. 691 00:35:57,875 --> 00:36:00,583 Bacteria and mold need that water to grow. 692 00:36:00,708 --> 00:36:02,333 So if you can keep your honey sealed 693 00:36:02,500 --> 00:36:04,791 without letting water get in there, 694 00:36:04,792 --> 00:36:06,375 it'll basically never spoil. 695 00:36:07,375 --> 00:36:09,042 Unspoiled jars of honey have been found 696 00:36:09,208 --> 00:36:11,542 in 19th century shipwrecks. 697 00:36:11,667 --> 00:36:13,957 And archeologists have found sealed jars of honey 698 00:36:13,958 --> 00:36:16,583 in ancient Egyptian tombs that are perfectly edible 699 00:36:16,750 --> 00:36:18,417 even thousands of years later. 700 00:36:21,083 --> 00:36:22,792 Decades slip by, 701 00:36:22,917 --> 00:36:25,583 and the store that once helped feed humanity 702 00:36:25,708 --> 00:36:29,417 is swallowed up by Mother Nature instead. 703 00:36:39,708 --> 00:36:41,583 100 years after people, 704 00:36:41,708 --> 00:36:45,708 the Oslo has long since sunk to the darkest depths, 705 00:36:45,833 --> 00:36:48,708 but some of its cargo is still afloat. 706 00:36:50,292 --> 00:36:52,042 Let's say a single shipping container 707 00:36:52,167 --> 00:36:54,000 is carrying nothing but flip-flops. 708 00:36:54,125 --> 00:36:56,833 It could hold about 130,000 pairs. 709 00:36:57,042 --> 00:36:59,500 But a lot of flip-flops are made of EVA foam, 710 00:36:59,625 --> 00:37:01,457 which is a closed-cell foam, 711 00:37:01,458 --> 00:37:04,292 which means that water can't get inside of it. 712 00:37:04,417 --> 00:37:07,000 This means that it can both float very well 713 00:37:07,125 --> 00:37:08,958 and doesn't biodegrade. 714 00:37:10,042 --> 00:37:11,417 Ocean currents could carry 715 00:37:11,542 --> 00:37:13,292 some of those floating flip-flops 716 00:37:13,417 --> 00:37:15,750 all the way around the Pacific Ocean 717 00:37:15,917 --> 00:37:18,333 and deliver them at the Port of Shanghai, 718 00:37:18,458 --> 00:37:21,167 like it's some elaborate return-to-sender package 719 00:37:21,375 --> 00:37:22,833 from the Pacific Ocean. 720 00:37:24,292 --> 00:37:26,583 By the time this lost cargo arrives, 721 00:37:26,750 --> 00:37:28,458 the port where it started its journey 722 00:37:28,583 --> 00:37:30,292 is little more than a memory. 723 00:37:30,458 --> 00:37:33,000 The ghost of human commerce. 724 00:37:34,375 --> 00:37:35,667 A century later, whatever's left 725 00:37:35,792 --> 00:37:38,083 of the Port of Shanghai has been completely overgrown. 726 00:37:38,250 --> 00:37:41,250 Over the decades, plant life has creeped into the area, 727 00:37:41,417 --> 00:37:43,750 or else been washed up by the Yangtze River. 728 00:37:43,917 --> 00:37:46,208 Whatever the case, it now looks like there's a forest 729 00:37:46,375 --> 00:37:48,042 covering what used to be that port. 730 00:37:49,958 --> 00:37:52,333 As Mother Nature reclaims the land, 731 00:37:52,500 --> 00:37:56,957 an ancient resident returns, the South China tiger. 732 00:38:02,167 --> 00:38:03,708 These cats were once considered 733 00:38:03,875 --> 00:38:06,458 functionally extinct in the wild. 734 00:38:06,583 --> 00:38:10,042 In fact, none have been spotted outside of zoos 735 00:38:10,167 --> 00:38:11,792 since the 1980s. 736 00:38:13,125 --> 00:38:16,417 The Chinese government created controlled breeding programs 737 00:38:16,542 --> 00:38:20,667 to boost the Tiger's population at the Shanghai Zoo. 738 00:38:22,667 --> 00:38:24,958 Now, a century after their ancestors 739 00:38:25,125 --> 00:38:26,750 escape these facilities, 740 00:38:26,958 --> 00:38:30,500 the South China tiger is king of the jungle once more. 741 00:38:34,375 --> 00:38:35,250 In a life after people, 742 00:38:35,542 --> 00:38:38,625 the populations of these extraordinary cats 743 00:38:38,792 --> 00:38:41,208 would rebound and flourish. 744 00:38:47,875 --> 00:38:49,500 On the other side of the globe, 745 00:38:49,625 --> 00:38:52,667 all that's left of what was once the Mall of America 746 00:38:52,792 --> 00:38:55,542 is a plant-choked, overgrown ruin. 747 00:38:58,292 --> 00:38:59,667 The descendants of the K-9 unit 748 00:38:59,792 --> 00:39:02,667 that once patrolled its halls have returned. 749 00:39:02,833 --> 00:39:07,000 But like the mall, they're also transformed. 750 00:39:07,167 --> 00:39:10,416 There will still be dogs in a life after people, 751 00:39:10,417 --> 00:39:13,542 but they won't look like most of the family pets 752 00:39:13,667 --> 00:39:15,333 wer'e accustomed to. 753 00:39:15,458 --> 00:39:18,500 In the absence of controlled breeding, 754 00:39:18,625 --> 00:39:23,042 all of the specialty varieties will disappear. 755 00:39:23,167 --> 00:39:25,999 In other words, mutts will rule. 756 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:28,708 Natural selection would mean that this surviving dogs 757 00:39:28,875 --> 00:39:31,375 adapt to become more effective hunters, 758 00:39:31,542 --> 00:39:35,000 like working together as a pack to take down prey. 759 00:39:35,125 --> 00:39:37,666 Dogs shed their domesticated past, 760 00:39:37,667 --> 00:39:40,583 reshaping into the image of their wild cousins, 761 00:39:40,708 --> 00:39:42,833 wolves, coyotes, and dingoes. 762 00:39:43,042 --> 00:39:46,042 Their coats grow thicker, their bodies harden, 763 00:39:46,208 --> 00:39:50,583 lean, powerful, built for a life in the wild. 764 00:39:50,708 --> 00:39:53,000 These once disciplined guard dogs 765 00:39:53,125 --> 00:39:55,417 bred to obey our commands, 766 00:39:55,583 --> 00:39:57,875 now revert to their more animalistic nature. 767 00:39:58,042 --> 00:40:01,417 They become hunters, survivalists. 768 00:40:01,542 --> 00:40:03,250 And so like the mall itself, 769 00:40:03,375 --> 00:40:06,167 these dogs have returned to nature. 770 00:40:06,333 --> 00:40:08,833 Mother Nature has erased almost every sign 771 00:40:08,958 --> 00:40:11,667 that this was once a bustling mall. 772 00:40:11,833 --> 00:40:14,583 But there's one thing that can never be erased. 773 00:40:16,167 --> 00:40:20,000 Unlike silver or copper, gold never corrodes. 774 00:40:20,125 --> 00:40:21,375 It doesn't react to water, 775 00:40:21,750 --> 00:40:25,042 and it's basically impervious to almost every kind of acid. 776 00:40:25,958 --> 00:40:28,833 That's why ancient coins, crowns, 777 00:40:29,042 --> 00:40:33,375 jewelry from thousands of years ago still shine today. 778 00:40:33,500 --> 00:40:35,917 It's like time just forgets about gold. 779 00:40:37,042 --> 00:40:39,291 These remnants, faded treasures, 780 00:40:39,292 --> 00:40:42,292 buried in dust, are all that endure, 781 00:40:42,458 --> 00:40:44,083 the final fragile clues 782 00:40:44,208 --> 00:40:47,667 to humanity's long dance with commerce. 783 00:40:48,542 --> 00:40:49,958 I think it's really easy to underestimate 784 00:40:50,083 --> 00:40:52,500 how much we consume, how much we shop. 785 00:40:52,667 --> 00:40:54,625 It's a huge part of our lives. 786 00:40:55,458 --> 00:40:56,792 Shopping and commerce have long been 787 00:40:56,917 --> 00:40:58,458 the lifeblood of civilization, 788 00:40:58,625 --> 00:41:00,625 driving economies and shaping the way we live. 789 00:41:00,750 --> 00:41:02,542 They bring us necessities and luxuries, 790 00:41:02,708 --> 00:41:04,583 and also fuel innovation. 791 00:41:05,542 --> 00:41:07,667 But without people, none of it happens. 792 00:41:07,833 --> 00:41:09,583 There are no shoppers to buy anything, 793 00:41:09,708 --> 00:41:12,958 and the global gears of commerce grind to a halt. 794 00:41:13,083 --> 00:41:15,624 So all of the intricate web of business 795 00:41:15,625 --> 00:41:19,042 that we have created, it dissolves into nothingness.