Questão 23 (2º dia) da 2ª fase da UNICAMP 2012

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman – a book review

Imagining the consequences of a single thought experience – what would happen if the human species were suddenly extinguished – Weisman has written a sort of pop-science ghost story, in which the whole earth is the haunted house. Among the highlights: with pumps not working, the New York City subways would fill with water within days, while weeds and then trees would retake the streets. Texas’s unattended petrochemical complexes might ignite, scattering hydrogen cyanide to the winds – a "mini chemical nuclear winter." After thousands of years, rubber tires, and more than a billion tons of plastic might remain, and eventually a polymer-eating microbe could evolve, and, with the spectacular return of fish and bird populations, the earth might revert to Eden.

a) O que, segundo o texto, aconteceria em Nova Yorque, caso ocorresse uma repentina extinção da espécie humana?

b) Segundo o texto, quais poderiam ser as consequências da permanência de pneus e plásticos na Terra, milhares de anos após o desaparecimento dos seres humanos?