The End of the World (As We Know It) Realities of a Post-Apocalypse By Shannon Stockesell (Chemobys birds disappeared in the firestorm when Reactor Nini Hse Blew that April their nest building-barely begun. (...] Ber Se Sliema: spring the birds were back, and they've stayed. To watch Bars seis Se raked around the carcass ofthe hot reactor iz discombcbaixing: =e \when youre swaddled in layers af woe! and hooded canvas comalio S nipha parle, with a sugical cap and mack to keep plstonen Se Sem yourhair and longs. You want them t ly nur. ast znd fir Ae Se its mesmerising thar chey’re here Te scems #0 normal, 23 specie Sa ‘med out tobe aot so bad afer all. The worst happens snd See sl eee om Alan Weisman, The Rena! cute ‘The idea of complete human cainction has cxprured the minds of es c= Se immemorial. From the Raprure of Chritéan dactie ws the Ragas Noe es very culrue bas is beiei-and predictions about the end of the wars. See csi 3 not just a mythical ideas Its a reality that species became extinct ad tems = immune o this. In fet, it believed that ome apizn once came tanger ose to catincion; genetic dara suggests that, about 70,000 years ago, te ses Sen po more than a few thousand members. Despite this, and courts: Sum Sa Se Trappened ince, we are il here. Cael, tly a enoerboas cistron as ees shone an apocalyp—and even then, there would likely be survivors. The kind of knowledge an individual would need to sictie depen oe Sow Se ‘world ends. Unfortunately that i nesiy imposible to pecdict, Sazs Sharan. wave and author of The Disier Diariac How I Learned 29 Styp Worpene wnt Lowe =e Apocuypsey assets that the end of che worl willbe caused by “Black Seas cscs.” a disaster we worit sce coming, atleast set at society unlit her may append, Jn a way, then, making i through the end of the yerld might not mee =e ols. ‘One might just need tbe in che zight place at the Fight time. Ice mena thee the spocalypoe that will require some special knowledge.An Unmaintained World {In Augucr 2005, an uncimmed ree branch caused 2 chain reaction of powss fares from Mickig to Caads,lessng SO aon people without alec in the Ingest blaknet 5a US. history The region wc accustomed to small power outages cawed by bizracs and thondertorms, but the widespread narure of this Blackout caused major problems ‘Wares pumps stopped working, and stores mincd the prices of bottled water, batters, sand other necessities. Homes al over the Northesst were unable to use ix eoditioning. swish wasnt just uncomformble—in the W-dcgrce heat and oppresire humidity of a ‘New England summet,it was life-threatening, especially fo the ede. Those sufering fiom hest-reated illness coulda even find comfor in hospitals, which were depenclent -on back-up generators and couldnt run ar candiioning on this Fried power upplies. ‘The aftermath ofthe 2003 power failure is stark reminder of how much the citizens ‘of developed countries sve come to rely on electricity Im all eases of masive power flares, electricity is restored, and life can go back to aoc This process requires only ‘one hy component maintenance perofmel In the world of Mc Burm « pest-eectrie play, the characters are unsure of how snany people remain alive in the United Sexes: ‘one: guesses million, another says ics definitely lesz. However many people are Set, there wauld definitely bea shortage of necessary maintenance pervonncl Without them, infrastructure is danced tof ‘While chere aren't many events thar would completely estoy the electrical rid, one is according to Lewis Daztnell author of Tie Kreg Flos ée Rebuild Our Word es ‘Seet, an “enoemous coronal mass ejection” from the sunc"A particularly violent solar burp would slam imo the magnetic field around our plane, sti ing ikea bell and induce enarmous cusrens in the electricity dsribation wires desing ansforraers anu knocking out ett pid acois the plaet."Ta geneel, Darel gives apoclypae survivors “grave pesiod” in which modem coaveniences, such as electricity and sewage systems, continoe to run normally for a litle while before their inevitable breakdown, bt inthe event ofa total fallue of the eectical gid, he predicts that “the collapse of socal order would s2on fallow” ax people srtempt 0 concame food before it not. Tn addition to the chaos that would ensue, fre would Become ons of the maior probleme faced by sareivoes sach as those in Mr, Barns. As Tightniag eed must and break, buildings would catch on fire: with na firefighters to put them our, fires would Tikely bar cities to che ground. This would be particularly devastating to cities Tike San Francisco, with its famed Victorian houses built mostly fren wood. ‘Water would ako pose « aaj peoblem. In areas that experience major temperstire focruations in spring and fil, the freeze-thaw cycle woul cause materials to expand, ‘soniract, and ultimately break down. Even the mightiest buildings and bridges woald ‘eventually crumble to the ground andl decompose “The Ukrainian city of Pripya, where the Chezpobyl Nuclear Power Plant was located, is a haunting cxample of what a city would look like if people disappears; journals Andrew Blaclovell cal ie “the worlds most genuinely post-apocalypic cing.” Pripyat was quickly eracated within two days after the Chemaby! disaster. Today, plants grow *‘An arnuzerere patkin he abandoned cy of Paya. esr the Chematoy! Musa Power Pa i \Ustaine. Photo courtesy Wierneda Commans 200 through cracks in the pavement and buildings: show signs of deeny: tis popalated only by animals and the occasional tourist. Here, narare bas taken over, and evensually, even ‘the city’ tallest building wil ll, But things will not retum to their original state for a ‘ong time. Indeed, humans are responsible for anany sinister creations that wil be aroun in Chernobyl and elsewhere, long after wel gone. A Post-Nuslear World “Many fictional accounts posit auclear war as the use of the apocalypse, but 00 matter how the workd actually ends, survivors will have ro contend with radiation, Radioactivity is a particularly unsettling concept. Unless you have a Geiger counter handy (ane few people do), i cifficule to keer if you've come into contact wich an iradated area une ie t00 late. Symptoms of radiation sickness include mausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, fatigue, and, in extreme cases, burns and loss of consciousness, These symptoms wil appear anywhere ‘fom 2 few minutes to few Roary after contact depending on the level of radiaéon and bow close you were to the source, and will usually subside a few days later In adiion vo the immediately visible effets, anton also affeers human cells on 4 genetic level, casing cancer and tumors later in life. The effects of radiation on fmans are devastating, but we sill we nuclear energy becamse itis extemely efficent, and, forthe most par, doesat cause problems—homever, when itdoee, they ean be extatrophie. ‘The concept of nuclear power is relatively sage: a atom is eplic into two smaller som in a process called fision, which es offcat. Mest nuclear reactors wx an ‘sotope of oraniue (ucuaines-235, which takes 704 zilion years for balf of tsradioactive atom to decsy), which fission: easly iti manufacrored into fuel rods. Asp U-235