What If We Were All Gone ?

I have often wondered what is would be like if all humans were obliterated off the face of the earth. This article from Scientific America introduces us to Alan Weisman, a professor or journalism from the University of Arizona, and his forthcoming book World without Us. The book examines how long our stuff would last if we were not here it take care of it.
Having actually studied at the UofA for a short period is in not hard for me to imagine a world without us due to southern Arizona's desolate and Mars like environment.
Maybe that's where Alan got his inspiration. None-the-less, an interesting article.