Module 7: Zombies and Ecological Disasters


"We Come From The Earth, We Return To The Earth."

Harkening back to Environmental Manipulation in Module 5, zombies and ecological disasters feels very much like an extension of that subject matter. This time, however, instead of discussing how fictional forces impact and influence the environment, we are called to consider how the absence of human (and superhuman... and extraterrestrial...) intervention affects it. 

In The Walking Dead, the zombie apocalypse brings about a reclamation of the earth, which has the opportunity to heal without constant abuse from humans. Animals feed upon the decaying flesh of human bodies littering the landscape. Long highways empty of cars, but not life—grasses and foliage grow over the medians, creeping and crawling toward its inevitable goal: to swallow the highway. 


It's comforting somewhat, I think, to know that once we are gone, the earth will enter some new state without us. There was a time before we existed and there will be a time after that we can only begin to imagine or conceptualize. 

Some of my thoughts from the video Life After People:

More trees and wildlife turning Central Park into a forest seems like the way it should already be; I like the idea of a full fledged forest in the middle of Manhattan.

Plants being powerful/strong enough to wedge between the masonry of buildings and pipes and completely destroy them on a chemical and physical level given enough time is something that I was aware of on a basic level—however, the scale of what's possible through that avenue of environmental reclamation is remarkable.

I certainly didn't consider tidal surges and how some areas may eventually sink completely underwater. It's interesting because I'm pretty sure there are some places today that are underwater that didn't used to be; because we don't have easy access to those places anymore, it's almost as if no one was ever there.

Thinking about our domesticated animals and how dogs would have to go back to hunting their own food. Before the urban ecologist in the video pointed out that they would likely be the first to go, the concept of some crusty white dogs that I know ceasing to be little yipping lap-inhabitants and going out to scavenge dead squirrels and rats was as funny as it was gross.




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