Category
đș
TVTranscript
00:00What would happen if every human being on Earth disappeared?
00:10This isn't the story of how we might vanish.
00:14It is the story of what happens to the world we leave behind.
00:23In this episode of Life After People, the leaders of man are gone.
00:31How will the White House fall?
00:34Who's really buried in Grant's tomb?
00:37Why will Mao's body defy decay?
00:42And from this abandoned place, one of mankind's most powerful leaders unleashed the deadliest weapon in history.
00:51Welcome to Earth. Population Zero.
01:00Man's presidents, prime ministers, dictators, and kings are gone.
01:18Leaving behind their worlds of extreme security and luxury.
01:24From the White House, to the Forbidden City, and the Palace at Versailles.
01:30Which of these powerful places will last the longest when there's no one to declare war on nature's advancing armies?
01:42One day, after people.
01:53The home of the most powerful man in the world stands unguarded.
01:57Originally known as the President's Palace, or the President's House, Theodore Roosevelt made a long-standing nickname official in 1901,
02:12when he added the words White House to the presidential letterhead.
02:16The white walls of this famous house will last for a very long time, but not their distinctive color.
02:26The walls are made from aqueous sandstone, a local rock prized for its toughness.
02:33It was quarried along a tributary of the nearby Potomac River, and was also used to construct the U.S. Capitol.
02:43The White House facade is not at all smooth.
02:46It is sandstone, and the sandstone is not white.
02:53The White House sandstone is naturally grayish.
02:56So, why is the White House white?
03:02Legend has it that after the British set fire to the house during the War of 1812,
03:08it was painted white to cover up the burn marks.
03:14But in truth, soon after the walls were first completed in 1798,
03:20workers applied coats of lime-based whitewash to seal the rough stone.
03:26Later, white paint was applied as a more effective barrier against moisture.
03:34By the late 20th century, the sandstone walls were regularly repainted,
03:39each time requiring 570 gallons of white paint.
03:45If the walls are well protected, the windows are impenetrable.
03:51The Oval Office is fitted with bulletproof glass.
03:54It was first installed in 1941,
03:58after the hysteria following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
04:04Now, the bulletproof glass will keep nature out.
04:09But there is an intruder in the Oval Office.
04:16Bo, the president's dog,
04:19has crossed to the West Wing.
04:20He is the last in a long line of sometimes bizarre presidential pets,
04:28like Woodrow Wilson's sheep,
04:32Benjamin Harrison's goat,
04:34and William Howard Taft's cow.
04:39Bo is a Portuguese water dog,
04:42originally bred to work on fishing boats,
04:45diving for fish,
04:46retrieving broken nets,
04:48and guarding boats for their masters.
04:53Portuguese water dogs are one of the oldest breed of domesticated dog,
04:57going back thousands of years.
04:58They are very competent and intelligent,
05:01and can handle many different tasks.
05:06Soon, Bo will have to leave the house
05:08and use his intelligence to survive.
05:13What dangers await this pampered pet
05:16on the streets of the nation's capital?
05:19Two days after people.
05:33In New York City,
05:36the vast United Nations complex
05:38once welcomed leaders
05:39from almost 200 member countries.
05:42Their flags,
05:45arranged alphabetically
05:47from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe,
05:50still flutter along First Avenue.
05:54The 39-story Secretariat Tower
05:57looms over the cavernous General Assembly Building,
06:01where all 1,800 seats are now empty.
06:05In the UN's vast sub-basements,
06:12an eerie glow still filters
06:14through the hallways and offices.
06:19These glow-in-the-dark markers
06:21guided workers safely out of the building
06:24during the 2003 Northeast blackout
06:27that darkened New York City.
06:30They owe their glow
06:35to a substance called
06:37strontium oxide illuminate.
06:42Exposed to light,
06:44its electrons are pushed
06:45to a higher energy state.
06:48In the dark,
06:49they lose energy,
06:52giving it off in wavelengths
06:54of greenish-yellow light.
06:56The emergency lighting
06:58basically takes its energy
07:00from the regular building lights.
07:03So after the regular building lights go off,
07:06you're still going to see an eerie glow.
07:10But these markers
07:11can only glow for up to 20 hours.
07:15With no electric lights
07:17to recharge them,
07:18this vast labyrinth
07:20will soon join the rest of the city
07:22and the world
07:23in total darkness.
07:30One week after people.
07:36Around the world,
07:38mankind's leaders remain embalmed
07:40and entombed.
07:44For one great communist leader,
07:47the recipe for immortality
07:49was a botched job.
07:52few dared to oppose
07:56China's premier,
07:57Mao Zedong,
07:59whose policies
08:00and execution orders
08:02are believed to have killed
08:03up to 70 million people.
08:07On September 9th, 1976,
08:10he died at the age of 82.
08:14Despite Mao's last wishes,
08:16calling for his body
08:17to be cremated,
08:18officials debated
08:20over what to do
08:21with his corpse.
08:23Initially,
08:25Mao's body lay in state
08:26for a couple of weeks
08:27before they started
08:28to preserve it.
08:30In the 1970s,
08:32embalming was rare in China.
08:35So the scientists charged
08:37with preserving Mao's corpse
08:39for posterity
08:40had to first do some research.
08:44One of the things
08:45that the scientists read
08:46was that if you embalm
08:48the body
08:48with a large amount
08:50of formaldehyde solution,
08:52it would preserve
08:53the body indefinitely,
08:55or so they thought.
08:56Specifically,
08:5816 liters of fluid
08:59into the system.
09:01They went a little further
09:01and infused 22 liters
09:04of fluid into the system,
09:05which was a complete disaster.
09:11The mistake
09:12caused bloating
09:13and extensive skin damage.
09:15But somehow,
09:18they were still able
09:19to create
09:19a presentable corpse
09:21that could be viewed
09:22for decades
09:23in a quartz sarcophagus
09:24in Tiananmen Square.
09:27They bring the body
09:29up from the basement
09:29every day
09:31for a few hours,
09:32no more than four hours.
09:33Sometimes they don't
09:34bring the body up at all.
09:37Will the secret
09:38of Mao's body
09:39finally be revealed
09:40in a life after people?
09:42Two weeks after people.
09:55In Manhattan's
09:56Riverside Park,
09:58no one is buried
10:00in Grant's tomb.
10:02In fact,
10:03nobody ever was.
10:04The real answer
10:08to the classic riddle
10:09who's buried
10:10in Grant's tomb
10:11is that Ulysses S. Grant
10:13and his wife
10:14were both entombed here
10:16above ground.
10:19So they are technically
10:21not buried at all.
10:26Ulysses S. Grant
10:27was once the most famous man
10:29in the world.
10:29So popular
10:32was the former
10:32Civil War general
10:33and U.S. president
10:34that in 1897,
10:37when his mausoleum
10:38was dedicated,
10:39more than one million
10:41people showed up.
10:44The body of General Grant
10:46took a tortured path
10:48to its final resting place.
10:50Like Chairman Mao,
10:52he was the victim
10:53of a botched
10:54embalming job.
10:55When Grant,
10:59a legendary chain smoker
11:00of cigars,
11:02died of throat cancer
11:03in 1885,
11:05it was hoped
11:06his body could be
11:07preserved to go
11:07on public tour.
11:11The body lay
11:13in the refrigerated coffin
11:15for several weeks.
11:17And if it's not
11:18at at least
11:1937 to 39 degrees
11:21Fahrenheit,
11:23this wouldn't have
11:24preserved his body
11:25very well.
11:26The refrigeration
11:27that they used
11:28was actually
11:29an icebox.
11:33When the public
11:34got its first look
11:35at Grant,
11:36they were horrified.
11:38The face was blackened
11:40with decay.
11:42What no one knew
11:43was that the general's face
11:45had begun to deteriorate
11:47before he died.
11:50The cancer blocked
11:51the blood circulation
11:52above his neck.
11:53The embalmer
11:57did the best
11:58he could,
11:59but the face
12:00itself deteriorated
12:01more so
12:02than the rest
12:02of the body.
12:06Now,
12:07his body rests
12:08in a granite sarcophagus
12:10inside the largest
12:12mausoleum
12:12in North America.
12:16Grant seems
12:17well protected,
12:18but an enemy force
12:21has the general
12:22surrounded.
12:33Three weeks
12:34after people,
12:36this nearly
12:38200-year-old mansion
12:39in Virginia
12:40houses the groundbreaking
12:43inventions of one
12:44of America's greatest men.
12:49A great clock
12:51powered by descending
12:52cannonballs,
12:54a copying machine
12:56used to make
12:57duplicate documents,
12:59and even one
13:01of the first
13:01indoor toilets
13:02in American history.
13:06The home
13:07is Monticello,
13:09personally built
13:10and occupied
13:10by President
13:11Thomas Jefferson.
13:14Despite his
13:15opposition to slavery,
13:17many of Jefferson's
13:19own slaves
13:20helped to build
13:20his dream house,
13:22and it was built
13:23to last like
13:24no other home
13:25in America
13:26at the time.
13:28It's extremely
13:30well made.
13:31It's all constructed
13:32out of brick,
13:32which is very unusual
13:33for this area.
13:34Most of the houses
13:35around here
13:35were made of wood,
13:36basically.
13:36One of the more
13:39innovative features
13:40of the house
13:41is this metal
13:42shingle roof.
13:44The current shingles
13:45are 316 grade,
13:47a surgical grade
13:49of stainless steel.
13:52The roof
13:53was designed
13:54to include
13:5513 skylights,
13:57a concept
13:57far ahead
13:58of its time.
14:03Now,
14:04a potential gateway
14:05for destruction.
14:09Skylights
14:09in any structure,
14:10whether it's old
14:11or new,
14:12do tend to leak
14:13fairly quickly
14:14as compared
14:14to the roof itself
14:15or even vertical windows.
14:17So those would be
14:18a particularly vulnerable
14:19area of this building.
14:23The home
14:24of the author
14:25of the Declaration
14:26of Independence
14:27is holding back
14:30Mother Nature's
14:31revolution
14:31for now.
14:34And across
14:39the Atlantic,
14:40the famous mirrors
14:41of this legendary
14:42palace
14:43have killed before.
14:45What is their
14:46toxic secret?
14:55One month
14:56after people.
14:58Now that the world's
15:00leaders are gone,
15:01new forces
15:03are looking
15:04to seize power.
15:09Just outside
15:10of Paris,
15:11France,
15:12the palace
15:14of Versailles
15:15with its spectacular
15:16gardens
15:17sits untended.
15:20This is one
15:21of the most
15:22opulent homes
15:23built by any leader
15:24in history.
15:25The palace
15:27is 500,000
15:29square feet,
15:30ten times
15:31larger than
15:32the White House.
15:34Its construction
15:35in the late
15:361600s
15:37nearly bankrupted
15:39the nation.
15:42And it was here
15:43that the angry
15:44mobs of the French
15:45revolution
15:46captured Marie Antoinette
15:47and her husband
15:49King Louis XVI,
15:51taking them
15:52away to Paris
15:53and eventually
15:54the guillotine,
15:57overthrowing
15:57the French monarchy.
16:01In 1919,
16:03Versailles
16:04was one of the
16:05few places
16:05that could accommodate
16:06the hundreds
16:07of dignitaries
16:08that had descended
16:09on France
16:09to negotiate
16:10the treaty
16:11ending World War I.
16:13The peace agreement
16:15that would become
16:16known as
16:17the Treaty of Versailles
16:18was signed here
16:20in the palace's
16:21famous
16:21Hall of Mirrors.
16:23At more than
16:24235 feet,
16:26the hall is longer
16:27than a 747
16:28and it's lined
16:30along one wall
16:31with 367 mirrors.
16:35Most originally
16:36installed in 1684,
16:39each mirror
16:39contains
16:40a deadly ingredient.
16:43mercury.
16:48Every 10 square feet
16:50of mirror
16:51required more than
16:52100 pounds
16:53of the toxic
16:54liquid metal.
16:56Inhalation
16:57of mercury vapors
16:58can cause
16:59inflammation
16:59of the lungs
17:00and respiratory failure
17:02and in fact
17:04actually killed
17:05some of the craftsmen
17:06who made the mirrors.
17:09Now,
17:10could this
17:10centuries-old poison
17:12determine the fate
17:14of the historic
17:15Hall
17:15in a life
17:17after people?
17:26One year
17:27after people,
17:28former President
17:30Thomas Jefferson's
17:31Monticello home
17:32continues to hold off
17:34nature's assault.
17:35Even the skylights
17:37are holding out
17:38thanks to
17:39Jefferson's
17:40innovative design.
17:46This is one
17:47of the main skylights
17:48over Jefferson's
17:49bedchamber.
17:50If you notice,
17:51the glass overlaps
17:52shingle fashion
17:53so that you have
17:54the course above
17:56overlapping that
17:56below it
17:57shedding the water.
17:59It's been very effective.
18:00We don't really see
18:01any leakage at all
18:02occurring with these skylights,
18:04even in a blowing rain.
18:06The skylights
18:07have proven effective
18:08at keeping out moisture
18:10for many years.
18:13But Jefferson's home
18:14might not be as strong
18:15as it appears.
18:18Unlike the opulent kings
18:19of France,
18:21Jefferson had to manage
18:22his budget carefully.
18:24Jefferson was
18:26perennially short of funds.
18:28The problem with that
18:29is that he had to live
18:31off the cash flow
18:32of his farm.
18:35Jefferson's money
18:36troubles forced him
18:37to come up with
18:37some creative
18:38construction techniques
18:39that might doom
18:41his treasured home.
18:50For eight years,
18:52Beau,
18:53the former first dog,
18:54has survived
18:55on his own.
18:57Falling back
18:58on the survival skills
18:59of his ancestors,
19:01this Portuguese water dog
19:03has sought sustenance
19:04from the sea.
19:07First scavenging
19:08at the banks
19:09of the Potomac,
19:10he soon found his way
19:12to the nearby
19:13Chesapeake Bay.
19:16Portuguese water dogs
19:17worked on fishing boats
19:19and seafood was always
19:21a staple part
19:21of their diet.
19:22He could sniff out clams,
19:24other shellfish,
19:25or dead fish
19:26that wash up
19:27on the shore.
19:29It's very likely
19:30that if he could get
19:31south towards
19:32the Chesapeake,
19:33it would be
19:33an abundant food source
19:35for Beau to scavenge
19:35and survive on
19:36for his lifetime.
19:40By turning
19:41to the food source
19:42of his ancestors,
19:44Beau has found
19:44a way to survive
19:46and thrive
19:47in a life
19:48after people.
19:4920 years
19:58after people,
20:00the White House
20:01has returned
20:02to its original color,
20:04gray.
20:06Birds
20:07are the new
20:08unelected residents.
20:10The house itself
20:12is holding up well.
20:14Its future
20:14might have been
20:15more bleak
20:16if it wasn't
20:17for a renovation
20:18in the mid-20th century.
20:21The wood
20:22had been rotting.
20:23People had been
20:23drilling through the beams
20:24to add conduit
20:26for pipes
20:26and electricity
20:27over time,
20:28and it was determined
20:28that it needed
20:29to be almost
20:30entirely reconstructed.
20:33Now,
20:34when Truman
20:34was president,
20:35they actually
20:36had to move
20:36out of the White House
20:37because it was
20:38becoming actually
20:39dangerous.
20:41As it turned out,
20:43leaving the White House
20:44set up an even
20:45more dangerous
20:46situation for the
20:47president.
20:48During the four-year
20:50renovation,
20:51Truman lived
20:52across the street
20:53in Blair House,
20:54normally a guest house
20:55for visiting heads
20:56of state.
20:58On November 1st,
21:001950,
21:01two Puerto Rican
21:02nationalists
21:03tried to assassinate
21:04him there.
21:05A gunfight
21:06broke out
21:06on the steps,
21:08killing a White House
21:09policeman
21:09and one of
21:10the would-be
21:10assassins.
21:12Truman
21:12was unharmed.
21:14completed in 1952,
21:19the renovations
21:20gave the White House
21:20a new 25-foot-deep
21:22foundation supporting
21:24interior steel frame
21:25walls.
21:27The mansion's
21:29exterior walls
21:30have a less certain
21:31future.
21:33The local sandstone
21:34turned out to be
21:35not as tough
21:36as the original
21:37builders believed.
21:38in 1814,
21:41the White House
21:41was gutted
21:42in a fire
21:43set by British troops.
21:45The walls
21:46were still standing,
21:47but the workers
21:48sent in
21:49to repair the house
21:50discovered that
21:50moisture had been
21:51penetrating the stone
21:52for years,
21:54causing extensive damage.
21:58After that,
21:59marble and granite
22:01became the stones
22:02of choice
22:02for the Capitol's
22:03monumental buildings.
22:04exposed to moisture
22:09over long periods
22:10of time,
22:11the surface
22:12of the sandstone
22:13White House walls
22:14can turn to mud,
22:16and that's exactly
22:17what's happening now,
22:19as the White House
22:20grounds are already
22:21returning to the
22:22watery wetlands
22:23they were
22:24before the first
22:25colonists arrived.
22:3020 years after
22:31people,
22:32the places
22:33where mankind's
22:34leaders exercised
22:35their greatest power
22:36now conceal
22:38the greatest secrets,
22:41including one
22:42abandoned place
22:43in America
22:43with a surprising
22:45link to the most
22:46deadly weapon
22:47ever created
22:48by man.
22:5620 years
22:57after people,
22:58the most deadly
22:58weapon ever created
23:00by man.
23:0020 years after people,
23:02the rusting buildings
23:04and splintered docks
23:05of this former
23:06naval base
23:07conceal a dark
23:10history.
23:13From here,
23:14at Hunter's Point
23:16in San Francisco Bay,
23:18the most fearsome
23:19weapon ever launched
23:20by one of mankind's
23:22leaders
23:22sets sail
23:23into world history.
23:25home to 18,000 workers
23:31during World War II,
23:33this place
23:34was the point
23:35of departure
23:35for hundreds
23:37of warships
23:37heading to the Pacific.
23:43No mission
23:44was more important
23:46than the one
23:47that began here
23:48in the summer
23:48of 1945
23:49when parts
23:51for the atomic bomb
23:52nicknamed
23:53Little Boy
23:54were delivered
23:55to the base.
23:55July 16, 1945,
24:02the cruiser Indianapolis
24:03was alongside
24:03this wharf.
24:05The components
24:06for Little Boy
24:06were loaded.
24:09Ten days later,
24:10she delivered the bomb
24:11and it was shortly
24:12thereafter dropped
24:13on Hiroshima.
24:17It was the first
24:18atomic bomb
24:19to be used
24:19as a weapon,
24:21killing an estimated
24:22140,000 people.
24:24and along
24:25with a second bomb
24:26dropped on Nagasaki,
24:28it put an end
24:29to the war.
24:34Many of the buildings
24:35constructed on the base
24:37during World War II
24:38are still standing.
24:40The mess hall,
24:44which once fed
24:45thousands of sailors
24:46and dock workers,
24:48is now a wreck
24:51of peeling
24:51lead-based paint,
24:54decaying fixtures,
24:56and corroding appliances.
24:59This is one of the oldest
25:02structures on this base,
25:03constructed of wood,
25:05going through a lot
25:05of deterioration,
25:06but some of this
25:07is holding together
25:08fairly well
25:09at this point.
25:10But as we move
25:10across over here,
25:12we can see that the support
25:13is severely deteriorated.
25:16Water and moisture
25:16have gotten in,
25:17caused rot
25:18out of the ends
25:18of this beam.
25:19It has actually fallen down
25:21on the sides
25:22of the column.
25:23And what's left
25:23is a piece of conduit
25:25that is really helping
25:26hold this thing together.
25:31After the war,
25:34Hunter's Point
25:34took on a newer
25:35and darker mission.
25:36It began in 1946
25:43after the U.S. military
25:45conducted secret tests
25:47on the effects
25:48of nuclear blasts
25:49on warships
25:50out in the Pacific.
25:52The surviving ships
25:53from what was called
25:54Operation Crossroads
25:55were towed back
25:57to Hunter's Point
25:58for decontamination.
26:00Workers sandblasted
26:01the hulls,
26:03unknowingly exposing
26:04themselves to dangerous
26:05levels of radiation.
26:06and allowing
26:08radioactive paint scraps
26:09to fall into the bay.
26:13It was the beginning
26:15of a toxic saga
26:16at Hunter's Point.
26:20The knowledge gained
26:21from decontaminating
26:22the ships
26:23from Operation Crossroads
26:25saw the Naval
26:26Radiological Defense Lab
26:28established here
26:29at Hunter's Point.
26:33Scientists with the NRDL
26:35turned the base
26:36into the world's
26:37most advanced laboratory
26:38for studying the effects
26:40of nuclear radiation
26:41on everything,
26:43including living creatures.
26:45Some believe
26:46there may have been
26:47human testing,
26:49but what is certain
26:50is that farm animals
26:52were systematically
26:53exposed to radiation
26:55to simulate the effects
26:56to simulate the effects
26:57of nuclear fallout.
27:02The research here
27:04caused widespread contamination.
27:07But all the while,
27:09people continued to live
27:11and work in this place.
27:12where now locker rooms
27:18stand forgotten.
27:22And latrines are deep
27:24in the clutches
27:24of mold and decay.
27:30Weeds choke
27:31the officers' quarters.
27:32and broken windows
27:36offer refuge
27:37for hundreds of birds.
27:42The vast manufacturing buildings,
27:45where submarines
27:46and other warships
27:47were welded together,
27:49are empty
27:50and silent.
27:51This was once
27:54a plate shop.
27:55Men and women
27:55were here burning,
27:56welding during the war.
27:59Now the concrete's chipped,
28:01starting to crack.
28:03Paint's coming down,
28:04the windows are broken,
28:05the ceiling's falling in.
28:07The shipbuilding machine tools
28:14were long ago removed
28:15and sold for scrap.
28:19But much of the office furniture
28:21and business machines
28:24from another era
28:25sit in forgotten decay.
28:32The radiation laboratory
28:34was shut down in 1969.
28:37But the work done here
28:39is still blamed
28:41for abnormally high rates
28:42of certain cancers
28:43found in the San Francisco
28:45Bay Area.
28:47In 1989,
28:49the base was declared
28:50a toxic Superfund site
28:52and slated for cleanup
28:54and decontamination.
28:55That work was still going on
28:58in 1991
28:59when the U.S. government
29:01finally shuttered
29:02Hunter's Point,
29:04along with dozens
29:05of other military bases
29:06as part of a widespread
29:08cost-cutting measure.
29:12Built for a time of war,
29:15it's a time of peace
29:16that is finally tearing
29:18Hunter's Point apart.
29:26As life after people continues,
29:29nature reclaims Washington, D.C.
29:32and the former home of the leader
29:34of the free world
29:35is becoming a water world.
29:4430 years after people,
29:47one great leader of mankind,
29:51Chinese premier Mao Zedong,
29:53remains surprisingly intact
29:55in his quartz sarcophagus.
29:58With none of the environmental
30:00control systems operational,
30:03Mao's body should have
30:04long ago decomposed.
30:08The Chinese really botched the job
30:10of infusing it from aldehyde,
30:12which is going to lead
30:14to problems later.
30:16No matter what they do,
30:17they've still created
30:18a huge problem
30:19from which they can't recover.
30:20because the body
30:22has to deteriorate.
30:24There is no way
30:25that it won't deteriorate.
30:29So why might this human form
30:32still be visible
30:33after all these years?
30:35Some believe
30:36the body isn't Mao at all.
30:41One of the things they did
30:43was to create
30:44a wax figure of Mao.
30:46And the wax figure
30:47looked more like Mao Zedong
30:49than Mao's actual body.
30:51It looked exactly like him.
30:54If this is the case,
30:56the body on display
30:58in Beijing
30:58is destined to crack
31:00and warp
31:01rather than decay.
31:0950 years after people,
31:12just one mile
31:13from Mao's mausoleum,
31:14the imposing wooden buildings
31:17of the Forbidden City
31:18are covered
31:19in a thick blanket of snow.
31:23For 500 years,
31:26this massive complex
31:28was the seat of power
31:29for China's emperors.
31:32Built in the 1400s,
31:35it has 9,999 rooms.
31:40Why not 10,000?
31:41Because 9 is a lucky number
31:44in Chinese culture.
31:47The tallest of all the structures
31:50is the 122-foot-high
31:52Hall of Supreme Harmony,
31:54the emperor's ceremonial seat of power.
31:59In the hall's center
32:00sits the emperor's ornate throne.
32:04It's surrounded
32:05by six gold-covered columns
32:07rising 100 feet
32:09to support the roof,
32:11each one carved
32:13from a single piece of wood.
32:17Now, extensive wood rot
32:20and termite damage
32:21have put the Hall
32:22of Supreme Harmony
32:24in a dangerously
32:25unharmonious condition.
32:28The smaller columns
32:29can no longer support
32:30the weight pressing down
32:31from above.
32:32The pillars making up
32:35the outer walls
32:36of the palace
32:38will be particularly vulnerable
32:40to attack by water.
32:43A high wind, perhaps,
32:45might cause it to break sooner
32:46or a heavy snow load
32:48on the ceiling.
32:49But the six solid wood
33:02golden pillars
33:03still protect
33:04the emperor's throne.
33:05And those six pillars
33:07are likely
33:08to continue standing.
33:10Those pillars
33:11are the emperor's sentinels.
33:13Snow and rain
33:18have bestowed
33:19a different fate
33:20upon the great palace
33:21of Versailles.
33:23The once famous gardens
33:24are now consumed
33:26by forest.
33:29Inside the palace,
33:31Louis XIV's
33:33Great Hall
33:33is the mirror image
33:35of devastation.
33:37The famous gardens
33:38have worked their way
33:40indoors.
33:40The Hall of Mirrors
33:44has so many little
33:45nooks and crannies.
33:47These nooks and crannies
33:48naturally catch
33:49the soil
33:50and create mold
33:51and dust
33:53and seeds
33:54from the gardens below.
33:58The chandeliers
34:00and much of the roof
34:01fell long ago.
34:03And the 8,000 square feet
34:05of mirrors
34:05are in dire straits.
34:07The roof
34:10of the Hall of Mirrors
34:12as it fails
34:13would leak quite a bit
34:14and water
34:16would cascade
34:16down the walls
34:17that actually
34:18hold the mirrors
34:19in place.
34:21Water
34:21would be both
34:22behind the glass
34:24and in front
34:24of the glass.
34:27But the mercury
34:28in the mirrors
34:29has actually prevented
34:30mold and fungus
34:31from colonizing them,
34:33keeping the antique glass
34:35from deteriorating
34:36and falling out
34:37of its framing.
34:39But now,
34:40water is steadily
34:41rotting the oak supports
34:42that hold
34:43the mirrors
34:44to the walls.
34:46And one by one,
34:47the glass
34:48that once reflected
34:49the faces
34:50of world leaders
34:51as they ended
34:52the war
34:53to end all wars
34:54submits
34:55to a final surrender
34:56itself.
34:57One hundred years
35:08after people.
35:09In Manhattan,
35:11Grant's tomb
35:12is holding strong,
35:14but a relentless force
35:16is moving
35:16to attack.
35:20The building
35:21is going to stand
35:23for a long time,
35:24but it's going
35:25to be assaulted.
35:27And the troops
35:28that are going
35:29to assault it first
35:30are the trees
35:32you see around you.
35:34The trees
35:35are London Plains,
35:37so notorious
35:38for producing
35:39organic debris
35:40that New York City
35:42officials banned
35:43any new plantings
35:44of these trees
35:45for decades.
35:49London Plains
35:50are bad for buildings
35:51because they shed
35:52their bark
35:53all throughout the year.
35:54the shed bark
35:56plus the leaves
35:56from the tree
35:57form soil,
35:59very, very fertile area
36:00for ivy
36:02and other vines
36:02to grow.
36:07Grant's tomb
36:08has been left
36:08unattended before.
36:11Beginning in the 1960s,
36:14mismanagement
36:15by the National Park Service
36:16left the monument
36:17exposed to damage
36:18from water intrusion,
36:20plant growth,
36:21and extensive vandalism.
36:24The tomb
36:25was even used
36:26for ritual animal sacrifices,
36:28possibly by Caribbean immigrants
36:30practicing a religion
36:31called Santeria.
36:34Grant's tomb
36:35was viewed
36:35as a national disgrace
36:37before it was finally
36:39restored
36:40and rededicated
36:41in 1997.
36:46Now,
36:47a century of unchecked tree growth
36:49and creeping vines
36:51has draped
36:52the granite mausoleum
36:53like a shroud.
36:57And down the coast
36:59in the nation's capital,
37:01the White House
37:02is falling victim
37:03to a problem
37:04every homeowner
37:05on Earth
37:05once feared.
37:06150 years
37:15after people.
37:18With no maintenance,
37:21Monticello's
37:2213 ingenious skylights
37:24are long gone.
37:26They're glass destroyed
37:27by hail
37:28and falling tree branches.
37:31And the stainless steel shingles
37:33could not prevent
37:34the wooden roof supports
37:35from rotting and collapsing.
37:43Thomas Jefferson's home
37:44was a masterpiece.
37:47But money troubles
37:48sometimes dogged him.
37:52The result is
37:53that he kind of cheated
37:55on the materials
37:57used in the home.
38:00The facade
38:01and the entryway
38:02looked like stone,
38:03but it was really wood
38:05painted with sand particles
38:06to resemble stone.
38:10The stone columns
38:11on the west side
38:12of the house
38:13were actually brick
38:14covered with stucco.
38:20Jefferson's cheats
38:21were convincing,
38:22but there's no fooling
38:24Mother Nature.
38:25one hundred and seventy-five years
38:36after people.
38:37In New York City,
38:39the General Assembly
38:40chamber at the United Nations
38:42is long out of session
38:44and about to adjourn
38:46permanently.
38:47The General Assembly
38:51building
38:52is a steel and concrete
38:54structure
38:55with a very irregular roof.
38:57The roof beams
38:58have to span
38:59a very, very wide area
39:01and any time
39:03you have
39:03a large space
39:06enclosed
39:07with no interior columns,
39:08you have a failure point.
39:11Here,
39:13the chatter
39:13of dozens of languages
39:15was once heard.
39:17Now,
39:18what's about to happen
39:19requires no translation
39:22at all.
39:34The General Assembly
39:36is outlasted
39:37by the 39-story
39:39Secretariat Tower,
39:40but just barely.
39:41The steel curtain frame
39:44is a teetering,
39:45rusted skeleton.
39:53Despite a deep foundation
39:55and a heavy-duty
39:56steel and concrete base,
39:58the Secretariat
40:00was built
40:00on filled-in land
40:01reclaimed
40:02from the East River.
40:04The problem is
40:06that there are areas
40:08of the sub-basements
40:09that are actually
40:10below the level
40:12of the water line.
40:15Because the lower levels
40:16would flood,
40:17it does expose
40:19the steel framework
40:21to brackish water,
40:23to salt water.
40:25So you've got
40:26major motions
40:27of the water
40:28slamming into this thing
40:29continuously.
40:32The salt water itself
40:33could cause
40:35enough corrosion
40:36to bring the building
40:37down all at once.
40:54175 years of neglect
40:57has left the White House
40:58looking anything
40:59but presidential.
41:00Although the walls
41:07are intact,
41:08parts of the roof
41:09have fallen
41:09and nothing
41:12can stand up
41:13to what's happening
41:14now in Washington,
41:15D.C.
41:18In 2006,
41:192007,
41:20there was
41:21an Army Corps
41:21of Engineers
41:22study on the area
41:24around the White House
41:25in the Capitol Mall.
41:26and it turns out
41:29that the levees
41:30are inadequate
41:31to prevent
41:32flooding of the area.
41:34And in fact,
41:35the White House
41:35sits right in the middle
41:36of what's known
41:37as a 100-year floodplain.
41:39Even though
41:39the White House
41:40itself is on
41:41a little hill,
41:42the sub-basement
41:43goes down
41:44about 25 feet
41:45and the sewer lines
41:47from the White House
41:49back down
41:50to the Mall
41:51have to cover
41:52that slope.
41:53And as water rises
41:56to the south
41:58of the White House,
41:59those sewer lines
42:00will fill with water
42:01and overflow
42:02right back
42:03into the White House
42:04sub-basement.
42:06The porous
42:08White House sandstone
42:09is degrading to mud
42:11and the home
42:13of every president
42:14since John Adams
42:16slides into
42:17a watery grave.
42:19230 miles away,
42:30in a tangle
42:31of dense forest
42:32along New York's
42:33Hudson River,
42:34this presidential monument
42:36is losing its battle
42:38with the trees.
42:42Ulysses S. Grant's
42:43granite tomb
42:44was built to last,
42:46but the destructive
42:48London plane
42:48trees have breached
42:50the inner sanctum.
42:54The area around
42:56this mausoleum
42:58basically is a
42:59soil creation machine.
43:02And once you start
43:03creating a lot of soil,
43:05you create
43:06even more trees.
43:11In the time
43:12of humans,
43:14Grant's body lay
43:15in a sarcophagus
43:16above ground level.
43:18the ground level
43:20and the ground level
43:20of the ground level.
43:21But now,
43:23the relentless soil
43:24production and tree growth
43:26has covered him
43:27beneath six feet
43:28of earth.
43:30For the first time
43:32in history,
43:33there is truly
43:34someone buried
43:35in Grant's tomb.
43:36mankind's leaders
43:42mankind's leaders
43:43had the power
43:44to reshape the world
43:45in their image.
43:49Now,
43:50Mother Nature
43:50rules over all the land
43:52in a life
43:54after people.
43:55are the only
43:58of the land
43:59who has been
44:01in a life
44:02to become
44:02the other
44:02you
44:03know,
44:03and
44:03are the
44:03most
44:04of them.
44:05Oh,
44:06let's go!