1 00:00:04,708 --> 00:00:07,125 [dramatic music] 2 00:00:07,208 --> 00:00:08,917 - [Narrator] What would happen 3 00:00:09,042 --> 00:00:13,125 if every human being on Earth disappeared? 4 00:00:14,708 --> 00:00:16,500 No matter how we might vanish, 5 00:00:19,042 --> 00:00:21,750 this is the story of what could happen to the world 6 00:00:21,875 --> 00:00:23,833 we leave behind. 7 00:00:24,042 --> 00:00:26,375 Now on Life After People. 8 00:00:27,667 --> 00:00:28,708 [police siren wailing] 9 00:00:29,042 --> 00:00:32,000 The cities we built turned untamed wilderness 10 00:00:32,125 --> 00:00:34,625 into fortresses of concrete and steel. 11 00:00:35,875 --> 00:00:37,417 But when we're gone, 12 00:00:37,542 --> 00:00:40,833 mother nature reclaims what's hers. 13 00:00:41,042 --> 00:00:42,625 [dramatic music continues] 14 00:00:42,750 --> 00:00:44,167 In New York City, 15 00:00:44,375 --> 00:00:46,917 new residents take over the concrete jungle. 16 00:00:47,042 --> 00:00:48,958 - What used to be sidewalks and streets 17 00:00:49,125 --> 00:00:52,333 is now a wild tangled green. 18 00:00:52,500 --> 00:00:55,000 - These monkeys are highly intelligent. 19 00:00:55,083 --> 00:00:56,833 They would very quickly become the smartest 20 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:58,750 species in all of New York City. 21 00:00:58,917 --> 00:01:02,167 - [Narrator] Once the theme park capital of the world, 22 00:01:02,292 --> 00:01:05,917 Orlando is swallowed up by the swamp.. 23 00:01:06,042 --> 00:01:08,000 - Very little of Orlando would survive. 24 00:01:08,167 --> 00:01:10,333 The city will be fully absorbed by the swamp 25 00:01:10,458 --> 00:01:12,500 it was built on hundreds of years ago. 26 00:01:12,667 --> 00:01:14,750 - [Narrator] And Rio De Janeiro succumbs 27 00:01:14,875 --> 00:01:16,750 to the surrounding rainforest. 28 00:01:18,292 --> 00:01:21,958 - Picture it, mud, fertilizer, human and industrial waste. 29 00:01:22,167 --> 00:01:26,292 That toxic cocktail jumpstarted a botanical explosion. 30 00:01:27,292 --> 00:01:28,792 - [Narrator] In a world without people, 31 00:01:28,958 --> 00:01:31,792 the planet's most significant cities will be overrun, 32 00:01:33,708 --> 00:01:34,417 [fire burning] 33 00:01:34,542 --> 00:01:35,333 swallowed whole 34 00:01:35,500 --> 00:01:36,792 [loud explosion] 35 00:01:36,917 --> 00:01:39,208 and taken back by mother nature. 36 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:41,958 [dramatic music continues] 37 00:01:42,083 --> 00:01:43,458 Welcome to Earth, 38 00:01:45,542 --> 00:01:46,292 population zero. 39 00:01:48,042 --> 00:01:49,750 [dramatic music] 40 00:01:58,583 --> 00:02:01,208 The city that never sleeps is silent. 41 00:02:02,583 --> 00:02:05,083 There are no crowds in Times Square 42 00:02:06,083 --> 00:02:08,333 and no tourists in Central Park. 43 00:02:15,625 --> 00:02:17,042 [dramatic music] 44 00:02:17,125 --> 00:02:21,292 Towers of glass and steel still stretch toward the heavens, 45 00:02:24,958 --> 00:02:26,833 but from the skies themselves, 46 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,042 relics of mankind shatter the quiet. 47 00:02:30,250 --> 00:02:33,792 [loud explosion] 48 00:02:33,875 --> 00:02:35,333 - On the busiest day, 49 00:02:35,500 --> 00:02:38,917 there can be around 9,000 individual helicopter trips 50 00:02:39,042 --> 00:02:41,208 crisscrossing New York City. 51 00:02:41,375 --> 00:02:44,583 [helicopter whirring] 52 00:02:46,375 --> 00:02:49,125 - [Narrator] Empty helicopters rain down upon the sea 53 00:02:49,250 --> 00:02:52,375 and debris tears through shops, theaters, 54 00:02:52,500 --> 00:02:54,208 and apartment buildings. 55 00:02:55,042 --> 00:02:55,958 [loud explosion] 56 00:02:56,125 --> 00:02:57,458 - It isn't just the impact. 57 00:02:57,625 --> 00:03:00,708 These choppers are carrying hundreds of gallons of fuel. 58 00:03:00,875 --> 00:03:03,667 Each one of these things is like a hand grenade 59 00:03:03,833 --> 00:03:05,208 the size of a rhino. 60 00:03:05,375 --> 00:03:07,917 The destruction would be intense. 61 00:03:09,042 --> 00:03:10,500 [fire burning] 62 00:03:10,667 --> 00:03:12,167 - [Narrator] These places were once filled with life. 63 00:03:12,292 --> 00:03:14,833 Now, there are no crowds to scream, 64 00:03:14,958 --> 00:03:17,292 no eyes to see the wreckage. 65 00:03:19,208 --> 00:03:20,167 [dramatic music] 66 00:03:20,292 --> 00:03:21,208 But the shattered glass 67 00:03:21,542 --> 00:03:24,750 and broken concrete aren't just open wounds. 68 00:03:26,083 --> 00:03:29,333 They're open invitations for new inhabitants to creep out 69 00:03:29,375 --> 00:03:31,625 from the shadows of Central Park. 70 00:03:33,667 --> 00:03:36,333 - It's actually teeming with hundreds 71 00:03:36,500 --> 00:03:38,333 of species of wild animals, 72 00:03:38,417 --> 00:03:42,125 hawks, owls, ducks, squirrels, raccoons, 73 00:03:42,208 --> 00:03:44,000 bats, and even coyotes. 74 00:03:44,167 --> 00:03:45,167 [coyote howling] 75 00:03:45,542 --> 00:03:46,875 - [Narrator] From within the depths of the park, 76 00:03:47,042 --> 00:03:49,333 animals begin to emerge, 77 00:03:49,542 --> 00:03:52,708 but in one corner of the park lies something stranger. 78 00:03:54,333 --> 00:03:57,750 It's home to a whole menagerie of predators, pests, 79 00:03:57,875 --> 00:03:59,958 and exotic creatures. 80 00:04:00,083 --> 00:04:01,000 [birds gawking] 81 00:04:01,292 --> 00:04:02,083 - At the southeast corner of the park 82 00:04:02,208 --> 00:04:03,750 sits the Central Park Zoo. 83 00:04:03,875 --> 00:04:07,333 It was established in 1859 kind of by accident 84 00:04:08,208 --> 00:04:10,458 with a stray bear tied to a tree. 85 00:04:10,542 --> 00:04:12,833 Before long, people started donating other animals 86 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:15,333 to the park, and eventually, the zoo became official. 87 00:04:15,542 --> 00:04:17,375 It housed over 130 species 88 00:04:17,500 --> 00:04:19,833 from tropical birds to snow leopards. 89 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:23,958 - Most would not be able to even escape their enclosures, 90 00:04:24,083 --> 00:04:27,083 and they would die of starvation 91 00:04:27,208 --> 00:04:30,375 or dehydration in a matter of a few weeks. 92 00:04:32,042 --> 00:04:33,667 But not all habitats have a roof. 93 00:04:33,875 --> 00:04:36,750 - Some animals live in open air enclosures 94 00:04:36,875 --> 00:04:39,292 like snow monkeys or Japanese macaques, 95 00:04:39,417 --> 00:04:41,375 but it's just a short swim and a climb, 96 00:04:41,542 --> 00:04:42,625 and they're out of there, 97 00:04:42,750 --> 00:04:44,792 which is exactly where hunger would take them. 98 00:04:45,792 --> 00:04:48,625 - These monkeys are highly intelligent. 99 00:04:48,750 --> 00:04:50,958 They would very quickly become the smartest 100 00:04:51,083 --> 00:04:52,792 species in all of New York City. 101 00:04:52,875 --> 00:04:54,167 [dramatic music] 102 00:04:54,333 --> 00:04:55,125 - [Narrator] A host of strange creatures 103 00:04:55,458 --> 00:04:57,792 roam beneath the branches of Central Park. 104 00:04:59,917 --> 00:05:00,708 Some hunt, 105 00:05:02,792 --> 00:05:03,667 some hide, 106 00:05:05,875 --> 00:05:08,333 but the most intelligent among them recognized 107 00:05:08,542 --> 00:05:10,792 that there's a world outside the park, 108 00:05:12,917 --> 00:05:13,750 unguarded, 109 00:05:14,792 --> 00:05:15,667 torn open, 110 00:05:17,333 --> 00:05:19,000 and full of opportunity. 111 00:05:19,083 --> 00:05:21,250 [birds gawking] [dramatic music] 112 00:05:21,375 --> 00:05:23,792 A thousand miles from the concrete jungle 113 00:05:23,917 --> 00:05:25,667 of the big apple, 114 00:05:26,333 --> 00:05:27,542 there's another city. 115 00:05:29,042 --> 00:05:32,417 Carved out of the deep murky swamps of Florida, 116 00:05:32,542 --> 00:05:36,750 a glittering fun house built on a wetland graveyard. 117 00:05:36,958 --> 00:05:38,125 Orlando. 118 00:05:38,292 --> 00:05:41,167 - Orlando isn't just a theme park hub, 119 00:05:41,375 --> 00:05:43,292 it is the theme park hub. 120 00:05:43,417 --> 00:05:45,292 There are 12 major theme parks. 121 00:05:45,417 --> 00:05:47,625 We're talking hundreds of rides 122 00:05:48,708 --> 00:05:52,542 and enough hotel rooms to house a small city. 123 00:05:53,875 --> 00:05:56,208 - Almost as many people live in Orlando 124 00:05:56,333 --> 00:05:59,000 as the entire population of Kansas, 125 00:06:00,417 --> 00:06:02,583 and the whole city is built on swamp land 126 00:06:02,708 --> 00:06:05,875 that would be unlivable if it weren't for human engineering. 127 00:06:06,042 --> 00:06:08,833 - [Narrator] Over decades, we drained the swamps, 128 00:06:08,917 --> 00:06:13,083 buried them beneath pavement and crowned them with rides. 129 00:06:14,125 --> 00:06:16,000 One week after people, 130 00:06:16,167 --> 00:06:17,708 theme parks are empty 131 00:06:19,417 --> 00:06:21,250 and rollercoasters stand frozen, 132 00:06:21,375 --> 00:06:22,875 waiting for riders 133 00:06:24,167 --> 00:06:25,458 who will never come. 134 00:06:28,500 --> 00:06:31,333 But there's something else humanity left behind, 135 00:06:31,542 --> 00:06:33,000 something volatile, 136 00:06:33,167 --> 00:06:35,208 and it could reshape the landscape, 137 00:06:35,333 --> 00:06:37,750 not in decades, but in moments. 138 00:06:38,917 --> 00:06:42,750 - In most cities, fireworks are a once a year event. 139 00:06:42,833 --> 00:06:46,750 But in Orlando, fireworks are a nightly spectacle. 140 00:06:48,417 --> 00:06:49,583 - Some of the bigger fireworks shows 141 00:06:49,708 --> 00:06:52,458 use up to two and a half tons of fireworks. 142 00:06:53,500 --> 00:06:54,875 They're packed into tubes called mortars 143 00:06:55,083 --> 00:06:56,500 and controlled by a computer. 144 00:06:57,542 --> 00:06:59,125 - [Narrator] At one of the small parks, 145 00:06:59,250 --> 00:07:01,250 there are hundreds of mortars packed, 146 00:07:01,333 --> 00:07:02,875 lying in wait for a show 147 00:07:03,042 --> 00:07:04,833 that will never begin. 148 00:07:04,958 --> 00:07:06,458 In the time of people, 149 00:07:06,583 --> 00:07:10,375 fireworks were canceled when thunderstorms were forecast. 150 00:07:10,500 --> 00:07:13,083 But now there's nobody watching 151 00:07:13,208 --> 00:07:16,208 and no one to safely store them away. 152 00:07:16,375 --> 00:07:18,500 - Fireworks usually go off one at a time, 153 00:07:18,625 --> 00:07:21,792 but a lightning strike could just set 'em all off at once. 154 00:07:22,875 --> 00:07:23,833 [eerie music] 155 00:07:24,125 --> 00:07:26,875 - [Narrator] And Orlando has a secret in its skies, 156 00:07:27,042 --> 00:07:31,042 it's the thunderstorm capital of the United States. 157 00:07:31,250 --> 00:07:32,333 [thunder roaring] 158 00:07:32,750 --> 00:07:34,417 - The entire state of Florida has the highest lightning 159 00:07:34,500 --> 00:07:36,958 density in the country. 160 00:07:37,167 --> 00:07:40,000 Each year there are over 285 161 00:07:40,208 --> 00:07:44,583 individual lightning strikes in any one mile radius. 162 00:07:44,708 --> 00:07:47,958 - [Narrator] The mortars lie silent, but exposed. 163 00:07:48,125 --> 00:07:50,292 When a thunderstorm rolls in, 164 00:07:50,417 --> 00:07:52,167 all it takes is a single bolt 165 00:07:52,250 --> 00:07:55,000 of lightning crackling toward them. 166 00:07:55,125 --> 00:07:57,500 [lightning roaring] 167 00:07:57,667 --> 00:08:00,708 [loud explosions] 168 00:08:02,917 --> 00:08:05,792 - A single bolt is 50,000 degrees. 169 00:08:05,875 --> 00:08:08,667 That's more than five times hotter than the Earth's core. 170 00:08:08,833 --> 00:08:12,000 - That would happen to be like a car bomb exploding. 171 00:08:12,125 --> 00:08:14,208 [fireworks exploding] 172 00:08:14,375 --> 00:08:15,667 It would leave the crater 15 feet wide 173 00:08:15,833 --> 00:08:18,125 and send a shockwave out a mile away. 174 00:08:19,292 --> 00:08:21,417 [loud explosion] 175 00:08:21,542 --> 00:08:22,667 - Within a few hundred feet, 176 00:08:22,750 --> 00:08:25,000 the devastation would be a immense. 177 00:08:25,167 --> 00:08:26,917 Rollercoasters, twisted warp, 178 00:08:27,042 --> 00:08:30,250 rides and attractions crumble and burn. 179 00:08:30,375 --> 00:08:32,000 [fire burning] 180 00:08:32,167 --> 00:08:34,167 - [Narrator] Orlando is on fire, 181 00:08:34,333 --> 00:08:37,042 but there are no sirens, no firefighters, 182 00:08:37,208 --> 00:08:41,375 and just two feet below the ground lies a sleeping giant. 183 00:08:41,542 --> 00:08:44,750 A vast web of pressurized natural gas lines 184 00:08:44,917 --> 00:08:46,917 ready to ignite 185 00:08:47,083 --> 00:08:50,208 and spark Orlando's return to the swamp. 186 00:08:51,542 --> 00:08:54,125 [dramatic music] 187 00:08:54,250 --> 00:08:59,167 4,000 away lies one of the biggest cities in South America, 188 00:08:59,292 --> 00:09:03,292 a place known as much for its wild rainforest peaks 189 00:09:03,417 --> 00:09:06,208 as for its endless nights of celebration, 190 00:09:06,375 --> 00:09:07,833 Rio de Janeiro 191 00:09:09,583 --> 00:09:12,208 - During Carnival, Rio de Janeiro 192 00:09:12,333 --> 00:09:14,167 becomes something else entirely. 193 00:09:14,292 --> 00:09:17,250 Five days of nonstop music, 194 00:09:18,458 --> 00:09:19,625 parades, and revelry. 195 00:09:19,792 --> 00:09:21,042 Between locals and tourists, 196 00:09:21,208 --> 00:09:24,833 as many as 11 million people will crowd into the city. 197 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:25,917 [dramatic music] 198 00:09:26,042 --> 00:09:27,333 - [Narrator] Gone are the sounds of revelry 199 00:09:27,500 --> 00:09:29,375 and lively samba music. 200 00:09:29,542 --> 00:09:33,042 Now the streets of Rio are quiet as a tomb. 201 00:09:34,750 --> 00:09:36,042 But high above the city, 202 00:09:36,208 --> 00:09:40,083 one pair of lonely eyes still keep watch. 203 00:09:41,333 --> 00:09:42,250 [inspirational music] 204 00:09:42,417 --> 00:09:43,250 - Christ the redeemer is one 205 00:09:43,583 --> 00:09:45,417 of the most iconic statues of the world, 206 00:09:45,583 --> 00:09:46,958 with its outstretched arms 207 00:09:47,125 --> 00:09:50,000 representing protection and peace. 208 00:09:50,208 --> 00:09:51,167 It is made 209 00:09:52,167 --> 00:09:55,250 of 635 metric tons of reinforced concrete, 210 00:09:55,375 --> 00:09:57,083 which makes it twice as heavy 211 00:09:57,208 --> 00:09:58,375 as the Statue of liberty, 212 00:09:58,542 --> 00:10:01,083 even though it's only half as tall. 213 00:10:02,208 --> 00:10:04,833 It's one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. 214 00:10:05,042 --> 00:10:06,583 - [Narrator] Christ the Redeemer's arms 215 00:10:06,708 --> 00:10:09,333 stretch out over Tijuca National Park, 216 00:10:09,542 --> 00:10:13,125 the only rainforest inside a major city. 217 00:10:13,292 --> 00:10:15,833 - Tijuca National Park is within city limits, 218 00:10:15,958 --> 00:10:19,500 making it the world's largest urban forest. 219 00:10:19,583 --> 00:10:23,000 It covers 15 square miles. 220 00:10:23,167 --> 00:10:26,667 For comparison, that's 10 times larger 221 00:10:26,833 --> 00:10:29,292 than New York City Central Park. 222 00:10:29,417 --> 00:10:32,292 - [Narrator] And where there's rainforest, there's rain. 223 00:10:32,375 --> 00:10:34,000 [thunder roaring] 224 00:10:34,125 --> 00:10:36,917 Thunderstorms strike here even more often than in Orlando, 225 00:10:37,042 --> 00:10:39,875 and there's one starting to darken the sky. 226 00:10:41,583 --> 00:10:43,042 [lightning roaring] 227 00:10:43,208 --> 00:10:44,958 - Brazil is the most lightning prone country in the world. 228 00:10:45,083 --> 00:10:49,042 It gets hit up to 80 million times a year. 229 00:10:49,208 --> 00:10:51,833 And Christ the Redeemer stands on the peak 230 00:10:51,917 --> 00:10:56,000 of Corcovado Mountain, 2300 feet above the city. 231 00:10:56,208 --> 00:11:00,458 That's the highest point in Rio, making it the prime target. 232 00:11:00,583 --> 00:11:01,750 [dramatic music] 233 00:11:01,875 --> 00:11:02,750 - [Narrator] But unlike Orlando, 234 00:11:02,875 --> 00:11:05,125 Christ the Redeemer is ready. 235 00:11:05,250 --> 00:11:08,208 For decades, lightning has lashed this peak 236 00:11:09,583 --> 00:11:11,458 and the statue towering 237 00:11:11,583 --> 00:11:15,667 and silent was built to withstand the assault. 238 00:11:15,833 --> 00:11:19,083 [lightning roaring] 239 00:11:19,208 --> 00:11:20,375 [dramatic music] 240 00:11:20,542 --> 00:11:22,000 - Christ the Redeemer has lightning rods 241 00:11:22,125 --> 00:11:25,042 to harmlessly transfer all the electricity 242 00:11:25,167 --> 00:11:28,958 from a direct lightning strike into the ground. 243 00:11:29,042 --> 00:11:32,833 But over time, as storms grew more and more frequent, 244 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:34,708 the system needed upgrades. 245 00:11:36,083 --> 00:11:39,000 - Lightning rods were also added to the statues arms. 246 00:11:39,208 --> 00:11:41,833 In 2021, the crown of rods in its head 247 00:11:41,917 --> 00:11:43,667 was made four times bigger and the base 248 00:11:43,833 --> 00:11:46,250 that helps dissipate electricity was expanded. 249 00:11:47,542 --> 00:11:49,167 - [Narrator] Now, after people, 250 00:11:49,333 --> 00:11:52,667 the statues' lightning defenses are frozen in time. 251 00:11:52,792 --> 00:11:56,125 They'll never repaired, never replaced, 252 00:11:56,208 --> 00:11:59,250 and beneath its feet, the earth is shifting. 253 00:11:59,375 --> 00:12:02,083 Relentless rain seeps into the hillside 254 00:12:02,208 --> 00:12:05,000 loosening the soil until slabs of land 255 00:12:05,083 --> 00:12:07,333 begin to slide toward the city below, 256 00:12:07,500 --> 00:12:10,125 groaning as they break free, 257 00:12:10,292 --> 00:12:11,625 a landslide that threatens 258 00:12:11,750 --> 00:12:14,417 to devour everything in its path. 259 00:12:20,750 --> 00:12:22,792 One week after people, 260 00:12:23,208 --> 00:12:26,500 Rio de Janeiro lies silent and exposed. 261 00:12:26,583 --> 00:12:27,833 [dramatic music] 262 00:12:28,167 --> 00:12:31,083 And on the hillside above, something sinister is stirring. 263 00:12:32,208 --> 00:12:36,625 The heart of the city is glass, concrete, and steel. 264 00:12:36,708 --> 00:12:39,333 But between Rio and the towering peak, 265 00:12:39,542 --> 00:12:42,875 are ramshackle neighborhoods hastily stitched together 266 00:12:43,042 --> 00:12:46,083 like a house of cards clinging to the slope. 267 00:12:46,167 --> 00:12:50,958 - Brazil is famous, or maybe infamous, for its slums. 268 00:12:51,083 --> 00:12:54,167 There are these huge communities known as favelas, 269 00:12:54,333 --> 00:12:56,500 where people who can't afford traditional housing 270 00:12:56,708 --> 00:12:58,750 basically improvise their own 271 00:12:58,917 --> 00:13:01,542 and they build shelters out of wood scraps, 272 00:13:01,708 --> 00:13:03,625 bricks and sheet metal. 273 00:13:03,792 --> 00:13:06,000 - Favelas, by definition, are not planned. 274 00:13:06,208 --> 00:13:08,250 They're just built wherever people can find space. 275 00:13:08,375 --> 00:13:10,333 And sometimes that means people are building 276 00:13:10,458 --> 00:13:12,750 on top of old landslides. 277 00:13:13,792 --> 00:13:16,500 [dramatic music] 278 00:13:16,667 --> 00:13:19,458 [constant beeping] 279 00:13:19,583 --> 00:13:22,667 - [Narrator] Rio's automated rain gauges trigger alarms 280 00:13:22,792 --> 00:13:25,167 when the threat of landslides is high. 281 00:13:25,333 --> 00:13:27,042 Now, they're screaming. 282 00:13:27,167 --> 00:13:30,833 A shrill warning echoing through empty streets. 283 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:32,917 There's nobody left to hear them 284 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:36,042 and no emergency crews to respond. 285 00:13:37,167 --> 00:13:40,167 - Rio's sirens would warn residents to evacuate 286 00:13:40,375 --> 00:13:43,500 or kick response teams into high gear. 287 00:13:43,667 --> 00:13:44,667 With enough time to prepare, 288 00:13:45,042 --> 00:13:48,208 crews could pile sandbags, build temporary barriers, 289 00:13:48,375 --> 00:13:51,375 or even use heavy machinery to excavate channels. 290 00:13:53,333 --> 00:13:54,500 [loud rumbling] 291 00:13:54,583 --> 00:13:56,333 But in a life after people, 292 00:13:56,417 --> 00:13:59,333 there's nothing to slow this landslide down. 293 00:14:00,917 --> 00:14:03,917 [landslide roaring] 294 00:14:08,250 --> 00:14:10,250 - It isn't just the ground sliding down the hill. 295 00:14:10,375 --> 00:14:14,458 It picks up whole houses, trees, power lines, power poles, 296 00:14:14,667 --> 00:14:16,000 all of that goes down, 297 00:14:16,125 --> 00:14:18,792 swallowing up whole neighborhoods in minutes. 298 00:14:18,958 --> 00:14:21,042 And the speed is terrifying. 299 00:14:21,208 --> 00:14:24,083 A landslide can travel at 35 miles an hour. 300 00:14:24,250 --> 00:14:25,000 Think of that. 301 00:14:25,333 --> 00:14:27,292 That's faster than Usain Bolt in his prime. 302 00:14:28,875 --> 00:14:30,500 [loud rumbling] 303 00:14:30,625 --> 00:14:35,125 - Many favelas rely on makeshift drainage ditches. 304 00:14:35,292 --> 00:14:38,083 Human waste, industrial runoff and garbage, 305 00:14:38,250 --> 00:14:40,833 all collect into the same channels. 306 00:14:42,625 --> 00:14:46,417 When a landslide hits, all of that waste gets swept up, 307 00:14:46,542 --> 00:14:49,625 creating a wave of toxic sludge. 308 00:14:49,833 --> 00:14:52,083 [sludge rumbling] 309 00:14:52,208 --> 00:14:54,583 - This isn't just a wave, it's a collision, 310 00:14:54,708 --> 00:14:59,833 like an asteroid crashing into the low lying neighborhoods. 311 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,542 Glass would shatter block after block after block. 312 00:15:04,542 --> 00:15:06,667 - [Narrator] With no one to rebuild them, 313 00:15:06,750 --> 00:15:10,250 Rio's favela's are crushed beneath tons of sliding earth, 314 00:15:12,083 --> 00:15:14,042 their bones splintered and scattered. 315 00:15:14,208 --> 00:15:15,708 What will come creeping in 316 00:15:15,875 --> 00:15:18,417 from the surrounding jungle to replace them? 317 00:15:20,375 --> 00:15:23,167 [dramatic music] 318 00:15:24,375 --> 00:15:25,292 In New York City, 319 00:15:25,417 --> 00:15:27,000 there's no one to stop Central Park 320 00:15:27,167 --> 00:15:29,875 from straining past old boundaries, 321 00:15:30,042 --> 00:15:33,042 working new growth into every crack and crevice. 322 00:15:34,625 --> 00:15:37,458 Snow monkeys that escape from the Central Park Zoo 323 00:15:37,625 --> 00:15:41,250 now roam the grounds and leap between treetops. 324 00:15:41,458 --> 00:15:43,917 But hungry eyes are watching them. 325 00:15:45,542 --> 00:15:47,750 - Monkeys aren't the top of the food chain. 326 00:15:47,875 --> 00:15:50,000 We know that there are wild coyotes 327 00:15:50,167 --> 00:15:52,292 living in Central Park already. 328 00:15:53,458 --> 00:15:55,250 Coyotes don't eat monkeys in the wild, 329 00:15:55,375 --> 00:15:58,250 but I'll bet you they'd do it in Central Park. 330 00:15:58,417 --> 00:16:01,375 - [Narrator] Driven by instinct and hunted by predators, 331 00:16:01,500 --> 00:16:05,417 the monkeys flee the wild for something far stranger, 332 00:16:05,583 --> 00:16:08,292 a place built for power and wealth. 333 00:16:08,375 --> 00:16:12,208 Its opulent skyscrapers once occupied by the 1%, 334 00:16:13,542 --> 00:16:15,167 Billionaires Row. 335 00:16:16,458 --> 00:16:21,167 Now, the towers stand empty, ripe for a new kind of tenant. 336 00:16:22,167 --> 00:16:22,917 - Billionaires row isn't for the rich, 337 00:16:23,083 --> 00:16:25,125 it's for the filthy rich. 338 00:16:25,250 --> 00:16:28,292 The average unit is worth around $22 million, 339 00:16:28,417 --> 00:16:30,083 and the most expensive was listed 340 00:16:30,208 --> 00:16:33,167 for $238 million a few years ago, 341 00:16:33,333 --> 00:16:34,792 making it the most expensive 342 00:16:34,917 --> 00:16:36,833 home in the country at that time. 343 00:16:36,958 --> 00:16:39,083 - The crown jewel of Billionaire's Row 344 00:16:39,250 --> 00:16:42,000 is the tallest residential tower on the planet, 345 00:16:42,208 --> 00:16:47,167 it's pinnacle stretching 1,550 feet into the New York sky. 346 00:16:47,750 --> 00:16:49,500 It's the Central Park Tower. 347 00:16:51,208 --> 00:16:53,833 - This tower was built to squeeze 348 00:16:53,958 --> 00:16:56,500 the maximum number of floors into one 349 00:16:56,708 --> 00:17:00,208 of the smallest plots in midtown Manhattan. 350 00:17:01,208 --> 00:17:04,125 The result is this super slender skyscraper 351 00:17:04,292 --> 00:17:06,917 that is 131 stories tall. 352 00:17:07,083 --> 00:17:10,000 [dramatic music] 353 00:17:11,875 --> 00:17:12,792 - [Narrator] A high-end department store 354 00:17:13,125 --> 00:17:15,708 takes up the first five stories of the tower. 355 00:17:15,833 --> 00:17:19,250 And thanks to damage caused by a crash helicopter, 356 00:17:19,417 --> 00:17:21,833 what was once an exclusive entrance, 357 00:17:21,958 --> 00:17:24,250 is now an easy way in. 358 00:17:25,208 --> 00:17:26,875 - Inside the flagship department store, 359 00:17:27,083 --> 00:17:30,500 snow monkeys would've had 360,000 square feet 360 00:17:30,625 --> 00:17:32,333 spread over seven floors. 361 00:17:32,417 --> 00:17:34,292 That's a wonderland of open space , 362 00:17:34,417 --> 00:17:37,000 of soft furniture and endless places to climb. 363 00:17:38,917 --> 00:17:40,250 [dramatic music continues] 364 00:17:40,375 --> 00:17:43,083 - They'd have designer clothes to nest in, 365 00:17:43,208 --> 00:17:44,667 dry goods to feast on, 366 00:17:44,792 --> 00:17:46,708 six different restaurants with non-perishables. 367 00:17:46,875 --> 00:17:49,917 They're living better than most New Yorkers today. 368 00:17:50,042 --> 00:17:51,708 - [Narrator] The monkeys are thriving, 369 00:17:51,875 --> 00:17:53,333 but they're not alone. 370 00:17:53,958 --> 00:17:56,250 Something else has crept in, 371 00:17:56,375 --> 00:18:00,583 something silent and slow moving, but destructive, 372 00:18:00,708 --> 00:18:02,167 and it's already spreading 373 00:18:02,333 --> 00:18:05,167 through the interior like a disease. 374 00:18:08,208 --> 00:18:09,583 [dramatic music] 375 00:18:09,750 --> 00:18:13,583 In Orlando, what began as a spark, is now an inferno. 376 00:18:13,750 --> 00:18:14,750 [fire roaring] 377 00:18:14,958 --> 00:18:16,083 And lurking just beneath the ground 378 00:18:16,250 --> 00:18:19,667 is a dangerous relic of human civilization, 379 00:18:19,792 --> 00:18:24,208 one that won't just feed the flames, it'll supercharge them. 380 00:18:25,125 --> 00:18:26,500 - Normally when there's a fire, 381 00:18:26,625 --> 00:18:28,333 the fire department will coordinate 382 00:18:28,542 --> 00:18:32,000 with gas and utility companies to cut off services 383 00:18:32,125 --> 00:18:33,667 to stop the spread. 384 00:18:33,750 --> 00:18:36,417 But this can't happen if there's no people. 385 00:18:36,542 --> 00:18:37,667 [loud explosion] 386 00:18:37,792 --> 00:18:39,833 - Florida has a network of natural gas pipelines 387 00:18:39,958 --> 00:18:41,875 that's 46,000 miles long. 388 00:18:42,042 --> 00:18:45,292 That's enough to reach orbit and come back, 389 00:18:45,417 --> 00:18:49,542 and it's all just two feet below the surface of the Earth. 390 00:18:51,042 --> 00:18:52,333 [dramatic music] 391 00:18:52,417 --> 00:18:54,750 - This vast web of pipes and joints 392 00:18:54,958 --> 00:18:56,667 needs constant maintenance. 393 00:18:56,875 --> 00:18:58,708 And now, there are no technicians 394 00:18:58,875 --> 00:19:03,167 to conduct routine inspections, no one to make repairs. 395 00:19:05,125 --> 00:19:06,917 A slow leak that could have been fixed 396 00:19:07,042 --> 00:19:08,500 with the turn of a wrench, 397 00:19:08,667 --> 00:19:11,167 hisses its way toward the surface, 398 00:19:11,333 --> 00:19:12,833 and without warning, 399 00:19:12,917 --> 00:19:15,167 an entire city block erupts, 400 00:19:15,375 --> 00:19:16,833 setting off a chain reaction 401 00:19:16,958 --> 00:19:21,000 that will eradicate nearly all that humanity built. 402 00:19:21,208 --> 00:19:24,167 [loud explosions] 403 00:19:24,375 --> 00:19:27,167 - The initial explosion would be about 3000 degrees. 404 00:19:27,333 --> 00:19:29,500 That would be enough to melt nearby cars. 405 00:19:30,458 --> 00:19:32,333 Connected homes would go up in flames 406 00:19:32,500 --> 00:19:34,000 and other structures connected 407 00:19:34,208 --> 00:19:36,583 to the pipeline would become little fire bombs. 408 00:19:36,750 --> 00:19:37,667 [loud explosions] 409 00:19:37,792 --> 00:19:38,917 - Eventually, the explosions 410 00:19:39,042 --> 00:19:40,958 and fires are gonna reach gas stations, 411 00:19:41,125 --> 00:19:42,458 and at that point, 412 00:19:42,583 --> 00:19:45,042 its higher neighborhoods are gonna disappear in flames. 413 00:19:45,208 --> 00:19:46,208 [fire burning] 414 00:19:46,375 --> 00:19:48,083 - [Narrator] Orlando is a blaze, 415 00:19:48,208 --> 00:19:49,667 and even as it burns, 416 00:19:49,792 --> 00:19:53,500 there's something watching just beyond the fire line, 417 00:19:53,667 --> 00:19:54,833 patient, 418 00:19:54,917 --> 00:19:57,708 ancient, unmoving. 419 00:19:57,875 --> 00:19:59,750 The swamp is waiting, 420 00:19:59,875 --> 00:20:02,667 ready to rise from the ashes. 421 00:20:02,875 --> 00:20:03,708 [dramatic music] 422 00:20:07,375 --> 00:20:09,000 [dramatic suspenseful music] 423 00:20:09,583 --> 00:20:12,958 - [Narrator] Just weeks after people, a fire is raging 424 00:20:13,125 --> 00:20:15,125 through Orlando like a hungry beast, 425 00:20:15,292 --> 00:20:18,250 consuming what mankind left behind, 426 00:20:18,375 --> 00:20:21,458 clearing the way for nature to take the city back. 427 00:20:23,500 --> 00:20:25,208 - With nobody to fight the blaze 428 00:20:25,375 --> 00:20:28,000 that's raging through Orlando, 429 00:20:28,125 --> 00:20:31,625 it could very easily turn into a firestorm. 430 00:20:31,708 --> 00:20:34,875 Basically, the fire takes on a life of its own, 431 00:20:34,958 --> 00:20:38,333 and for lack of a better term, starts breathing. 432 00:20:40,250 --> 00:20:43,333 - As the heat rises to 2,000 degrees, 433 00:20:43,458 --> 00:20:46,250 the firestorm sucks in cold air at ground level 434 00:20:46,375 --> 00:20:48,333 and feeds on the oxygen. 435 00:20:48,458 --> 00:20:50,375 This suction creates winds as strong 436 00:20:50,500 --> 00:20:51,583 as 100 miles an hour 437 00:20:51,708 --> 00:20:54,208 and pulls in anything that will burn. 438 00:20:54,375 --> 00:20:55,542 - [Narrator] At this rate, 439 00:20:55,708 --> 00:20:58,667 the city of Orlando will be burned away in weeks, 440 00:20:58,875 --> 00:21:01,458 but what's left behind won't just be rubble. 441 00:21:02,750 --> 00:21:06,917 It'll be a clean slate, a chance for the swamp to reclaim 442 00:21:07,042 --> 00:21:10,250 what was always rightfully hers. 443 00:21:10,375 --> 00:21:13,667 [dramatic suspenseful music] 444 00:21:13,750 --> 00:21:16,500 15 years after people, the once manicured lawns 445 00:21:16,625 --> 00:21:19,625 of Central Park are overgrown. 446 00:21:19,708 --> 00:21:22,542 New saplings rising from the thickets. 447 00:21:22,667 --> 00:21:26,542 Animals now rule, and their kingdom is growing, 448 00:21:26,667 --> 00:21:30,417 taking root in even the most luxurious buildings. 449 00:21:30,542 --> 00:21:33,083 - The Central Park Tower, once the crown jewel, 450 00:21:33,208 --> 00:21:35,542 isn't looking so regal these days. 451 00:21:35,708 --> 00:21:37,000 It's used 452 00:21:37,125 --> 00:21:40,458 to being pampered just like its former ultra rich residents. 453 00:21:40,583 --> 00:21:44,042 Glass, polished, steel, shine, 454 00:21:44,167 --> 00:21:46,542 but the shine is gone. 455 00:21:48,250 --> 00:21:50,333 - The window seals are the weak link. 456 00:21:50,458 --> 00:21:52,958 Without upkeep, they're breaking down. 457 00:21:53,042 --> 00:21:56,625 Moisture seeps in, glue and sealants fail, trouble follows. 458 00:21:57,792 --> 00:22:00,500 - [Narrator] The snow monkeys were just the first wave 459 00:22:00,583 --> 00:22:02,542 of the wildlife invasion. 460 00:22:02,667 --> 00:22:05,625 As time passes, mother nature moves in 461 00:22:05,708 --> 00:22:07,917 and makes herself right at home. 462 00:22:09,625 --> 00:22:11,375 - Birds find new places to roost. 463 00:22:11,500 --> 00:22:13,625 Mold creeps into the drywall. 464 00:22:13,708 --> 00:22:17,875 Every crack becomes a foothold for something green. 465 00:22:18,042 --> 00:22:21,667 A little dust, a little rain, a few seeds dropped by birds, 466 00:22:21,792 --> 00:22:26,292 and boom, you've got trees growing in penthouses. 467 00:22:27,208 --> 00:22:28,500 - [Narrator] The residential tower 468 00:22:28,667 --> 00:22:32,833 is no longer a condo building, it's a habitat, 469 00:22:32,917 --> 00:22:36,500 a vertical wilderness reaching toward the clouds, 470 00:22:36,708 --> 00:22:39,125 but the new ecosystem is built on the bones 471 00:22:39,208 --> 00:22:40,792 of a civilization lost 472 00:22:40,875 --> 00:22:45,458 and gone, along with everyone who knew how to maintain it. 473 00:22:46,625 --> 00:22:49,833 - A building that thin is at the mercy of the winds. 474 00:22:49,958 --> 00:22:51,583 When the winds are strong, 475 00:22:51,708 --> 00:22:55,667 it literally sways like the deck of a cruise ship. 476 00:22:55,875 --> 00:22:58,917 In fact, it can even cause motion sickness. 477 00:23:01,292 --> 00:23:03,458 - The way Central Park Tower sways puts a lot 478 00:23:03,625 --> 00:23:04,875 of strain on the structure. 479 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:06,500 To counteract this dangerous movement, 480 00:23:06,667 --> 00:23:08,750 there's a tuned mass damper installed 481 00:23:08,875 --> 00:23:11,167 in the top floor of the building. 482 00:23:11,333 --> 00:23:13,833 - I think it was a giant pendulum, a huge mass 483 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,125 that swings in the opposite direction of the wind 484 00:23:16,250 --> 00:23:17,500 to keep the tower stable. 485 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:22,375 - But like everything, 486 00:23:22,542 --> 00:23:23,500 this device requires regular maintenance 487 00:23:23,625 --> 00:23:25,417 and repair to work properly. 488 00:23:26,625 --> 00:23:29,042 - The damper is monitored by a system that can adjust 489 00:23:29,208 --> 00:23:31,000 as conditions change. 490 00:23:31,167 --> 00:23:34,250 But even though it's automated, it requires power. 491 00:23:34,375 --> 00:23:36,625 So Central Park Tower's damper system 492 00:23:36,792 --> 00:23:38,625 has gone dumb, if you will. 493 00:23:40,875 --> 00:23:43,708 - [Narrator] Central Park Tower was designed to react, 494 00:23:43,875 --> 00:23:46,500 locked in an endless dance with the wind, 495 00:23:46,625 --> 00:23:49,625 step by engineered step. 496 00:23:49,750 --> 00:23:53,875 After people, how long before the music stops? 497 00:23:54,042 --> 00:23:58,250 [suspenseful dramatic music] 498 00:23:58,417 --> 00:24:00,500 A few miles away, the Statue 499 00:24:00,667 --> 00:24:03,833 of Liberty is trapped in an unwanted embrace. 500 00:24:03,917 --> 00:24:05,250 The stifling arms 501 00:24:05,375 --> 00:24:08,083 of an invasive vine called Virginia Creeper 502 00:24:08,208 --> 00:24:09,833 grasping at her base, 503 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:12,667 and methodically working its way upward. 504 00:24:13,958 --> 00:24:18,292 - Virginia Creeper can grow as much as 20 feet per year. 505 00:24:18,458 --> 00:24:20,542 With no one around to eradicate it, 506 00:24:20,708 --> 00:24:23,208 with no animals to feed on it, 507 00:24:23,375 --> 00:24:24,542 there's no reason why it wouldn't be able 508 00:24:24,708 --> 00:24:26,542 to cover the entire statue. 509 00:24:27,833 --> 00:24:29,875 - [Narrator] This iconic statue that once welcomed people 510 00:24:30,042 --> 00:24:33,333 to New York is now being swallowed by it, 511 00:24:33,500 --> 00:24:38,500 and the worst of the damage is coming from inside. 512 00:24:39,542 --> 00:24:41,458 - Time has been chipping away at her copper skin, 513 00:24:41,542 --> 00:24:44,375 but wildlife has been throwing punches as well. 514 00:24:44,542 --> 00:24:47,333 Peregrine falcons have made a nest of her crown. 515 00:24:47,458 --> 00:24:50,083 Their poop is basically jet fuel for corrosion. 516 00:24:50,208 --> 00:24:53,667 It's highly acidic, especially when it builds up over time. 517 00:24:53,708 --> 00:24:56,958 It can eat away at almost any surface. 518 00:24:57,083 --> 00:24:59,917 - Where the copper panels are gone, the metal ribs 519 00:25:00,125 --> 00:25:02,333 and staircase are wide open to the elements, 520 00:25:02,417 --> 00:25:04,875 and damage is spreading fast. 521 00:25:05,042 --> 00:25:08,458 - This isn't the first time she's been in trouble. 522 00:25:08,542 --> 00:25:11,833 Back in the '80s, her iron bones were so rusted 523 00:25:12,042 --> 00:25:15,542 that they had to be completely replaced with Ferralium. 524 00:25:15,708 --> 00:25:18,542 That's a super strong stainless steel designed 525 00:25:18,708 --> 00:25:21,750 to withstand water and weather. 526 00:25:21,875 --> 00:25:24,875 But even this super material has its limits. 527 00:25:24,958 --> 00:25:27,583 Its lifespan is around 50 years. 528 00:25:28,958 --> 00:25:32,500 - [Narrator] Fed in toxic water pools 529 00:25:32,625 --> 00:25:35,958 at her base, soaking into the seams and joints. 530 00:25:37,458 --> 00:25:40,250 Rust creeps along the connection points 531 00:25:40,375 --> 00:25:41,667 like a cancer. 532 00:25:41,792 --> 00:25:45,708 [dramatic suspenseful music] 533 00:25:49,583 --> 00:25:53,458 25 years after people, Orlando was a charged skeleton 534 00:25:53,583 --> 00:25:54,958 of its former self. 535 00:25:56,042 --> 00:25:59,417 Now, the swamp is moving in to reclaim the city, 536 00:25:59,583 --> 00:26:03,208 and an insidious vine called kudzu is creeping 537 00:26:03,375 --> 00:26:05,917 and coiling on whatever remains. 538 00:26:07,500 --> 00:26:11,167 - This vine doesn't just grow, it conquers. 539 00:26:11,292 --> 00:26:15,000 And kudzu actually loves fire 'cause all of the ash 540 00:26:15,208 --> 00:26:19,250 and decomposing rubble creates a nutrient-rich buffet 541 00:26:19,458 --> 00:26:22,083 that the kudzu is there to dig into. 542 00:26:23,375 --> 00:26:27,500 - Its root system can weigh up to 400 pounds buried up 543 00:26:27,625 --> 00:26:30,792 to 10 feet deep so it can handle heat 544 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:34,292 that would vaporize other plants. 545 00:26:34,417 --> 00:26:38,750 Imported from Asia back in the day to stop soil erosion, 546 00:26:38,917 --> 00:26:41,750 kudzu has now gone full villain mode. 547 00:26:41,958 --> 00:26:46,500 It now smothers over 7 million acres in North America. 548 00:26:46,625 --> 00:26:48,542 This thing can grow a foot a day, 549 00:26:48,708 --> 00:26:51,708 and it roots itself anywhere the stem touches soil. 550 00:26:51,875 --> 00:26:53,667 That's why they call it the vine 551 00:26:53,833 --> 00:26:55,500 that ate the South. 552 00:26:55,625 --> 00:26:57,292 Without anyone to clear them, 553 00:26:57,458 --> 00:26:58,458 there's no drainage. 554 00:26:58,625 --> 00:26:59,500 And so flood waters will continue 555 00:26:59,875 --> 00:27:02,625 to rise and the swamp will pretty quickly consume 556 00:27:02,708 --> 00:27:04,167 what's left of the city. 557 00:27:05,208 --> 00:27:08,500 - [Narrator] Without humans to fight it back, 558 00:27:08,708 --> 00:27:12,083 kudzu takes over everything: burnt buildings, 559 00:27:12,208 --> 00:27:17,250 twisted roller coasters, melted ferris wheels, 560 00:27:18,625 --> 00:27:21,208 all wrapped tight in endless green vines. 561 00:27:22,375 --> 00:27:23,542 - And it doesn't stop there. 562 00:27:23,750 --> 00:27:26,125 Orlando's 95 miles of canals 563 00:27:26,208 --> 00:27:30,042 and pipe systems are now completely clogged. 564 00:27:30,208 --> 00:27:31,583 - In the time of people, 565 00:27:31,750 --> 00:27:34,542 millions of dollars were spent every year on mowing, 566 00:27:34,667 --> 00:27:36,500 and landscaping, and pesticides, 567 00:27:36,667 --> 00:27:40,292 all to control kudzu, but not anymore. 568 00:27:40,500 --> 00:27:43,542 [suspenseful dramatic music] 569 00:27:43,708 --> 00:27:45,833 - [Narrator] Manhattan is surrendering to nature. 570 00:27:45,958 --> 00:27:49,875 Sidewalks split by roots, vines crawling skyward, 571 00:27:50,042 --> 00:27:52,333 and parks spilling into the streets. 572 00:27:52,500 --> 00:27:57,625 But above the encroaching forest, a shadow still looms. 573 00:27:58,250 --> 00:27:59,417 Central Park Tower. 574 00:28:01,042 --> 00:28:04,167 The lower floors of the tower are full of life. 575 00:28:04,292 --> 00:28:08,583 The snow monkeys aren't just hanging on, they're thriving. 576 00:28:08,708 --> 00:28:11,417 In fact, many new generations have now been born. 577 00:28:11,583 --> 00:28:14,500 - If they're having babies, it means they're doing well. 578 00:28:14,625 --> 00:28:17,833 They get enough food, low stress, healthy. 579 00:28:17,917 --> 00:28:20,417 It's a New York City survival story. 580 00:28:21,625 --> 00:28:23,583 - Snow monkeys are the Swiss army knives 581 00:28:23,750 --> 00:28:26,667 of the animal kingdoms: smart, tough and adaptable. 582 00:28:26,750 --> 00:28:28,167 They're cool with humid summers 583 00:28:28,333 --> 00:28:32,333 and just as happy in blizzards and sub-zero temperatures. 584 00:28:32,458 --> 00:28:34,125 They'll eat just about anything. 585 00:28:34,292 --> 00:28:37,667 Bugs, plants, bark, even dirt if they have to. 586 00:28:37,792 --> 00:28:39,000 - [Narrator] For decades, 587 00:28:39,167 --> 00:28:41,875 Central Park Tower has stood tall, a sentinel 588 00:28:42,042 --> 00:28:46,667 and a sanctuary, but year after year, wounds have worsened, 589 00:28:46,792 --> 00:28:51,000 scars have grown, until its flesh is torn open, 590 00:28:51,125 --> 00:28:56,208 bones exposed, and the winds continue to howl. 591 00:28:57,208 --> 00:28:59,833 The Central Park Tower is now leaning hard. 592 00:28:59,958 --> 00:29:03,792 It was designed to cut through the wind, but not like this. 593 00:29:03,917 --> 00:29:05,958 The wind isn't just blowing around the tower anymore, 594 00:29:06,083 --> 00:29:08,750 it's barreling down into it, 595 00:29:08,917 --> 00:29:11,167 effectively turning it into a giant sail. 596 00:29:12,042 --> 00:29:15,458 - Gusts slammed into the structure, 597 00:29:15,542 --> 00:29:19,875 and inside the luxury apartment, everything is chaos. 598 00:29:20,083 --> 00:29:24,750 Walls crack, Italian marble counters split, 599 00:29:24,917 --> 00:29:28,125 glass showers explode like grenades. 600 00:29:28,208 --> 00:29:29,542 [glass breaks] 601 00:29:29,708 --> 00:29:32,292 - Then, the worst case scenario, 602 00:29:32,458 --> 00:29:33,958 the tuned mass damper fails. 603 00:29:35,167 --> 00:29:38,250 Dampers like this have a 20-year lifespan 604 00:29:38,375 --> 00:29:40,792 before major mechanical components need to be replaced. 605 00:29:40,917 --> 00:29:42,792 It would most likely just seize up 606 00:29:42,917 --> 00:29:46,000 and become 1,000-ton deadweight. 607 00:29:46,083 --> 00:29:48,333 - [Narrator] The tallest residential tower ever built 608 00:29:48,417 --> 00:29:49,500 is now straining 609 00:29:49,667 --> 00:29:51,958 to stay upright, weighed down 610 00:29:52,083 --> 00:29:54,333 by exhaustion like a prize fighter, 611 00:29:54,500 --> 00:29:56,583 two dazed to defend himself. 612 00:29:56,667 --> 00:29:58,292 - So that massive weight that used 613 00:29:58,375 --> 00:30:00,792 to keep the building balanced is now doing 614 00:30:00,917 --> 00:30:02,667 the exact opposite. 615 00:30:02,833 --> 00:30:05,625 It's leaning with the wind, dragging the top 616 00:30:05,750 --> 00:30:07,625 of the tower even further off center. 617 00:30:07,750 --> 00:30:09,250 Somewhere around the 80th floor, 618 00:30:09,375 --> 00:30:11,500 the whole structure's finally gonna give out. 619 00:30:11,625 --> 00:30:13,667 The pressure cascades downward, 620 00:30:13,875 --> 00:30:16,333 each floor pancaking onto the one below it 621 00:30:16,500 --> 00:30:20,500 in a chain reaction of absolute destruction. 622 00:30:20,625 --> 00:30:21,833 - [Narrator] In seconds, 623 00:30:22,042 --> 00:30:24,375 the entire top half of the tower breaks off 624 00:30:24,542 --> 00:30:29,292 and crashes down, smashing into nearby skyscrapers. 625 00:30:29,458 --> 00:30:34,375 Along billionaire's row, buildings topple like dominoes. 626 00:30:37,542 --> 00:30:41,000 - There's a reason we don't let old buildings just rot. 627 00:30:41,167 --> 00:30:43,583 We bring them down carefully and strategically, 628 00:30:43,708 --> 00:30:46,375 because if a building falls on its own, 629 00:30:46,500 --> 00:30:48,083 it doesn't just fall, 630 00:30:48,250 --> 00:30:49,833 it takes the neighborhood with it. 631 00:30:49,958 --> 00:30:53,125 [sediment crackling] 632 00:30:58,458 --> 00:31:02,042 - [Narrator] Nearly 5,000 miles south in Rio de Janeiro, 633 00:31:03,125 --> 00:31:06,667 the rainforest isn't content to slowly creep in. 634 00:31:06,750 --> 00:31:09,333 It's racing through the city, impatient, 635 00:31:09,458 --> 00:31:12,917 eager to erase what humanity left behind. 636 00:31:13,042 --> 00:31:15,917 - After the landslides had tore through the hillsides, 637 00:31:16,083 --> 00:31:17,792 and 20 years without people, 638 00:31:17,917 --> 00:31:21,625 Rio would've turned into a green house on overdrive. 639 00:31:21,750 --> 00:31:24,417 Picture it, mud, fertilizer, human 640 00:31:24,583 --> 00:31:27,125 and industrial waste, all just stewing under 641 00:31:27,208 --> 00:31:31,500 the city's heat, humidity, rain, and blazing sun. 642 00:31:31,625 --> 00:31:36,042 That toxic cocktail jump-started a botanical explosion. 643 00:31:40,792 --> 00:31:41,750 - [Narrator] But high above the city, 644 00:31:42,083 --> 00:31:45,667 one of the wonders of the world, Christ the Redeemer 645 00:31:45,875 --> 00:31:48,292 might be just as mortal as the civilization 646 00:31:48,417 --> 00:31:49,875 that left it behind. 647 00:31:52,167 --> 00:31:55,083 - The 14 vents built to let air flow 648 00:31:55,250 --> 00:31:58,333 through the monument are now acting like double agents. 649 00:31:58,500 --> 00:32:02,083 They let in dust, humidity, and driving rain. 650 00:32:03,375 --> 00:32:06,875 And once water gets inside, it's game over. 651 00:32:07,875 --> 00:32:10,750 Metal rusts, stairs corrode, 652 00:32:10,958 --> 00:32:13,958 and molds seeps into every corner. 653 00:32:15,292 --> 00:32:17,917 - And then you have gravity. 654 00:32:18,083 --> 00:32:19,958 It has been pulling on those arms 655 00:32:20,083 --> 00:32:22,000 since they were raised into place. 656 00:32:22,125 --> 00:32:25,083 And every crack, every little bit 657 00:32:25,250 --> 00:32:29,333 of rust is increasing the stress on the metal structures 658 00:32:29,500 --> 00:32:30,917 that support those arms. 659 00:32:32,083 --> 00:32:34,375 - To make matters worse, the lightning rods, 660 00:32:34,500 --> 00:32:35,667 which are there 661 00:32:35,833 --> 00:32:39,083 to protect the statue, are past their expiration date. 662 00:32:39,250 --> 00:32:41,292 The wires are frayed and soaked through. 663 00:32:41,417 --> 00:32:45,125 So one well-placed bolt from a tropical storm, 664 00:32:45,250 --> 00:32:47,083 which roll through several times a year, 665 00:32:47,208 --> 00:32:50,000 and that iconic statue takes a direct hit 666 00:32:50,167 --> 00:32:51,333 with no defense left. 667 00:32:52,542 --> 00:32:55,167 - [Narrator] Lightning slams into Christ the Redeemer, 668 00:32:55,333 --> 00:32:56,958 the force sends shock waves 669 00:32:57,125 --> 00:32:59,708 through the statue's weakened arms. 670 00:32:59,833 --> 00:33:01,500 They begin to fracture 671 00:33:01,625 --> 00:33:04,083 until they can no longer hold. 672 00:33:12,958 --> 00:33:15,167 100 years after people, 673 00:33:15,292 --> 00:33:19,042 New York City doesn't look like a city anymore. 674 00:33:21,875 --> 00:33:23,208 - What used to be sidewalks 675 00:33:23,333 --> 00:33:27,917 and streets is now a wild tangled green. 676 00:33:28,083 --> 00:33:29,250 Trees are bursting 677 00:33:29,417 --> 00:33:31,250 through the asphalt of Times Square. 678 00:33:31,417 --> 00:33:34,208 No more poodles in designer jackets. 679 00:33:34,333 --> 00:33:37,125 We have coyotes trotting down Broadway. 680 00:33:38,375 --> 00:33:42,125 - [Narrator] Relics of humankind can be seen everywhere, 681 00:33:42,208 --> 00:33:45,333 but they no longer serve any human purpose. 682 00:33:45,458 --> 00:33:49,208 - Balconies and fire escapes becoming makeshift planters, 683 00:33:49,375 --> 00:33:51,917 and up top, rooftops turn into forest, 684 00:33:52,042 --> 00:33:54,292 where full grown trees are swayed, 685 00:33:54,458 --> 00:33:57,375 where open air bars used to buzz. 686 00:33:59,875 --> 00:34:01,375 - The bones of the city 687 00:34:01,500 --> 00:34:05,000 are still standing stone, steel, brick. 688 00:34:05,125 --> 00:34:07,500 But now, every wall, every roof, 689 00:34:07,583 --> 00:34:10,833 every window ledge has something growing on 'em. 690 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:13,667 It's like a green roof on steroids. 691 00:34:17,833 --> 00:34:19,500 - It's surreal. 692 00:34:21,042 --> 00:34:25,125 A vertical wilderness draped over a forgotten city. 693 00:34:25,208 --> 00:34:26,500 - [Narrator] On Liberty Island, 694 00:34:26,708 --> 00:34:29,042 the statue that once stood for human freedom 695 00:34:29,167 --> 00:34:30,375 and equality, 696 00:34:30,542 --> 00:34:33,042 that once welcomed the world's huddled masses, 697 00:34:33,208 --> 00:34:35,583 has been shown no quarter. 698 00:34:35,708 --> 00:34:36,750 Her base is strangled 699 00:34:37,042 --> 00:34:39,917 by Virginia Creeper vines, roots buried deep 700 00:34:40,042 --> 00:34:41,708 in cracked stone. 701 00:34:41,833 --> 00:34:43,833 Her copper skin is torn, 702 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:47,333 her steel bones ravaged by rust and decay, 703 00:34:47,500 --> 00:34:50,208 and each passing day could be her last. 704 00:34:50,375 --> 00:34:52,667 - Even when the statue was at her best, 705 00:34:52,792 --> 00:34:56,042 a 50-mile-per-hour wind could make her sway 706 00:34:56,167 --> 00:34:59,750 as much as three inches in the body, 707 00:34:59,917 --> 00:35:02,000 but six inches in her arm. 708 00:35:02,125 --> 00:35:07,208 That arm and torch, 42 feet of unsupported metal, 709 00:35:08,250 --> 00:35:10,583 is the statue's biggest structural weakness. 710 00:35:14,708 --> 00:35:16,875 - With the steel connections between the pedestal 711 00:35:17,042 --> 00:35:19,208 and statue now weaker than ever, 712 00:35:19,375 --> 00:35:22,333 and the lower structural beams exposed to the elements, 713 00:35:22,417 --> 00:35:25,083 the entire statue begins to tilt. 714 00:35:26,458 --> 00:35:30,583 - Corrosion has eaten away at her once-sturdy 440,000-pound 715 00:35:30,708 --> 00:35:31,625 steel frame. 716 00:35:32,833 --> 00:35:35,417 In her prime, she could withstand gale force winds, 717 00:35:35,542 --> 00:35:37,583 but now an average breeze, much less 718 00:35:37,708 --> 00:35:41,042 the weight of too many pigeons on her crown 719 00:35:41,167 --> 00:35:43,333 could push her all the way over. 720 00:35:43,458 --> 00:35:46,000 - [Narrator] With a final agonizing groan, 721 00:35:46,167 --> 00:35:49,042 metal bends past its breaking point. 722 00:35:49,208 --> 00:35:51,542 The statue wrenches free of her pedestal 723 00:35:51,708 --> 00:35:53,458 and collapses in a heap. 724 00:35:54,833 --> 00:35:59,333 After 239 years, Lady Liberty watches over New York no more. 725 00:36:00,417 --> 00:36:02,000 - It's a more realistic ending 726 00:36:02,167 --> 00:36:04,000 than the one envisioned in "Planet of the Apes," 727 00:36:04,125 --> 00:36:05,542 but it's equally jarring. 728 00:36:12,042 --> 00:36:14,667 - [Narrator] In Orlando, what mankind built 729 00:36:14,833 --> 00:36:16,833 has been all but swallowed up. 730 00:36:16,958 --> 00:36:19,083 Gone are the concrete roadways, 731 00:36:19,208 --> 00:36:21,333 replaced by creeping vegetation 732 00:36:21,417 --> 00:36:23,625 and the teeming waters of the swamp. 733 00:36:23,750 --> 00:36:26,292 - That's exactly how the alligators like it. 734 00:36:26,417 --> 00:36:27,917 Water everywhere. 735 00:36:28,083 --> 00:36:30,542 Mother nature is rewinding centuries 736 00:36:30,750 --> 00:36:33,583 of construction, draining, reshaping. 737 00:36:33,708 --> 00:36:37,167 Orlando is getting pulled back into the swamps. 738 00:36:37,333 --> 00:36:40,250 - Wooden homes not consumed in the firestorms 739 00:36:40,458 --> 00:36:42,542 are rotting piles of mush. 740 00:36:42,667 --> 00:36:44,625 Concrete buildings are draped in vines 741 00:36:44,750 --> 00:36:47,000 and moss, like something pulled right out 742 00:36:47,167 --> 00:36:48,583 of an "Indiana Jones" movie. 743 00:36:49,625 --> 00:36:51,333 - [Narrator] Humanity may be gone, 744 00:36:51,500 --> 00:36:53,667 but the swamps are far from empty. 745 00:36:53,792 --> 00:36:56,792 New creatures are creeping out from every corner, 746 00:36:56,917 --> 00:37:00,833 some of them predators and some of them prey. 747 00:37:01,042 --> 00:37:02,500 - Florida is home to one 748 00:37:02,667 --> 00:37:04,333 of the world's most diverse populations 749 00:37:04,458 --> 00:37:06,333 of reptiles and amphibians. 750 00:37:06,458 --> 00:37:09,167 Some of them are native to the state, like the alligator, 751 00:37:09,250 --> 00:37:11,042 and others are not. 752 00:37:11,208 --> 00:37:13,083 But in this new wild kingdom, 753 00:37:13,208 --> 00:37:15,708 someone is always looking to pick a fight. 754 00:37:22,375 --> 00:37:24,583 - 200 years after people, 755 00:37:25,667 --> 00:37:28,208 the Orlando we once knew is gone. 756 00:37:28,375 --> 00:37:29,583 In its place 757 00:37:29,958 --> 00:37:34,333 is a soggy maze of swampland ruled by the animal kingdom. 758 00:37:35,500 --> 00:37:37,208 - This is what Florida was supposed to look like. 759 00:37:38,292 --> 00:37:41,917 Lush wetlands home to hundreds 760 00:37:42,042 --> 00:37:44,667 and thousands of unique species. 761 00:37:46,042 --> 00:37:47,125 - [Narrator] The apex predator 762 00:37:47,208 --> 00:37:49,125 is an ancient reptile now restored 763 00:37:49,208 --> 00:37:53,208 to the top of the food chain: the alligator, 764 00:37:53,375 --> 00:37:56,292 and its only challenger is an outsider, 765 00:37:56,375 --> 00:37:59,750 a deadly invader called the Burmese python. 766 00:38:01,083 --> 00:38:05,292 - Originally dropped into the wild by careless pet owners, 767 00:38:05,375 --> 00:38:08,625 these snakes don't just survive, they thrive. 768 00:38:10,875 --> 00:38:13,042 - Back in the '90s when these guys showed up, 769 00:38:13,208 --> 00:38:15,333 the population of raccoons, possums, 770 00:38:15,458 --> 00:38:17,792 and rabbits nose-dived almost immediately. 771 00:38:18,833 --> 00:38:22,208 - These snakes can grow up to 20 feet long 772 00:38:22,333 --> 00:38:25,000 and weigh 200 pounds. 773 00:38:26,167 --> 00:38:29,167 - Gators bite with a bone crushing force 774 00:38:29,250 --> 00:38:31,875 of 2100 pounds per square inch. 775 00:38:32,042 --> 00:38:34,333 But pythons don't need sharp teeth to win. 776 00:38:34,458 --> 00:38:36,958 They're stranglers, not biters. 777 00:38:39,875 --> 00:38:42,208 - Now, it takes a very long time to suffocate an alligator, 778 00:38:42,333 --> 00:38:43,500 but it can be done. 779 00:38:47,958 --> 00:38:50,292 - And the python's happy to play the waiting game. 780 00:38:50,500 --> 00:38:54,417 [dramatic suspenseful music] 781 00:39:00,750 --> 00:39:03,333 - Even when the python wins, it can still lose. 782 00:39:03,458 --> 00:39:07,167 In 2005, a Python tried to eat a six-foot gator, 783 00:39:07,292 --> 00:39:09,167 and its stomach literally exploded, 784 00:39:09,250 --> 00:39:11,417 but that doesn't stop them. 785 00:39:11,583 --> 00:39:14,042 - [Narrator] This is the brutal rhythm of nature, 786 00:39:14,208 --> 00:39:17,625 an endless cycle of kill or be killed. 787 00:39:17,708 --> 00:39:21,167 And in Orlando, in the aftermath of mankind, 788 00:39:21,208 --> 00:39:23,708 the swamp always wins. 789 00:39:26,125 --> 00:39:27,917 In Rio, the rainforest has hidden 790 00:39:28,042 --> 00:39:31,667 what little remains of what humanity left behind. 791 00:39:31,792 --> 00:39:33,917 Streets that once echoed with music 792 00:39:34,042 --> 00:39:38,167 and revelry are now shrouded beneath blankets of vegetation. 793 00:39:38,333 --> 00:39:39,542 - The Atlantic Forest 794 00:39:39,708 --> 00:39:42,875 once covered nearly 400,000 square miles 795 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:44,292 of Brazilian coastline. 796 00:39:44,417 --> 00:39:46,167 Just 200 years after people 797 00:39:46,292 --> 00:39:48,167 and Tijuca National Park would've reclaimed 798 00:39:48,292 --> 00:39:49,875 a lot of that coastline. 799 00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:51,250 No longer just a park, 800 00:39:51,375 --> 00:39:53,500 but a thriving rainforest. 801 00:39:53,583 --> 00:39:56,333 - Now, only the solitary statue of Christ 802 00:39:56,458 --> 00:39:59,708 would stand out among the greenery that's 803 00:39:59,875 --> 00:40:01,042 masking everything that humans left behind. 804 00:40:04,708 --> 00:40:06,208 - [Narrator] In New York City, 805 00:40:06,333 --> 00:40:09,042 once America's ultimate urban jungle, 806 00:40:09,167 --> 00:40:11,375 only jungle now remains, 807 00:40:11,542 --> 00:40:13,667 and towering trees fill in the gaps 808 00:40:13,750 --> 00:40:17,208 between the crumbling ruins of the Big Apple. 809 00:40:17,333 --> 00:40:19,417 - In a city is built up as New York, 810 00:40:19,542 --> 00:40:21,333 super structures like Central Park Tower 811 00:40:21,458 --> 00:40:22,667 would long have failed, 812 00:40:22,792 --> 00:40:25,000 but the more tightly packed buildings of brick 813 00:40:25,083 --> 00:40:28,500 and stone would linger a lot longer than we might think. 814 00:40:29,667 --> 00:40:32,750 - Maybe it would look like Hashima Island off the coast 815 00:40:32,875 --> 00:40:34,500 of Japan, where a mining town 816 00:40:34,583 --> 00:40:36,458 has been abandoned since 1974, 817 00:40:36,625 --> 00:40:38,542 but the buildings are all still standing, 818 00:40:38,708 --> 00:40:41,833 a living museum of the past. 819 00:40:41,958 --> 00:40:44,500 - Or Angkor Wat, Cambodia, the ancient capital 820 00:40:44,583 --> 00:40:45,750 of the Khmer Empire, 821 00:40:46,083 --> 00:40:50,000 where 900-year-old stone structures are still standing 822 00:40:50,083 --> 00:40:53,667 and bear the weight of trees and vines growing on them 823 00:40:53,750 --> 00:40:55,542 and clinging to their walls. 824 00:40:56,958 --> 00:40:59,167 - [Narrator] Two centuries after people, 825 00:40:59,250 --> 00:41:01,792 there are no fishermen, no nets. 826 00:41:01,958 --> 00:41:05,083 New York Harbor has been returned to the seals, 827 00:41:08,292 --> 00:41:10,708 and oyster beds clinging to the coast. 828 00:41:12,792 --> 00:41:14,833 - A glimpse of what New York Harbor 829 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:18,333 would've looked like before human intervention. 830 00:41:18,417 --> 00:41:20,000 - [Narrator] All across the globe, 831 00:41:20,125 --> 00:41:21,542 cities have been swallowed up 832 00:41:21,667 --> 00:41:24,458 by the wilderness people once tamed, 833 00:41:24,542 --> 00:41:27,875 with only ghostly ruins left to remember us. 834 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:30,833 - No matter how significant our contributions, 835 00:41:30,917 --> 00:41:35,333 our monuments, our meccas, there is some comfort in knowing 836 00:41:35,542 --> 00:41:37,208 that the world will keep turning. 837 00:41:37,375 --> 00:41:39,667 Mother Nature will right our wrongs 838 00:41:39,792 --> 00:41:42,000 and find a balance with or without us.