I need to get past my severe dose of DMD (Decision Making Disorder), so at the risk of going a step too far, going off the end of the road and beyond the human finale...
I nominate
The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
Synopsis from Kobo:
Quote:
"On the day after humans disappear, nature takes over and immediately begins cleaning house - or houses, that is. Cleans them right off the face of the earth. They all go."
What if mankind disappeared right now, forever ... what would happen to the Earth in a week, a year, a millennium? Could the planet's climate ever recover from human activity? How would nature destroy our huge cities and our myriad plastics? And what would our final legacy be?
Speaking to experts in fields as diverse as oil production and ecology, and visiting the places that have escaped recent human activity to discover how they have adapted to life without us, Alan Weisman paints an intriguing picture of the future of Earth. Exploring key concerns of our time, this absorbing thought experiment reveals a powerful - and surprising - picture of our planet's future.
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324 hardcover pages according to
Goodreads.
There seem to be multiple editions and the prices vary, so watch out for that.
Example prices from Kobo:
USD $9.99,
CAD $10.99,
GBP £7.99,
AUD $14.99
Non-fiction, obviously, which tends to be more expensive. I'm hoping people might find it in libraries (published in 2012), but this time I'm not holding back to find out.