Environment
The Good Earth Shall Abide Forever
We were part of an infinite world.
Habitats were practically indestructible; Atmospheric cycles cleansed our air; Fresh water was limitlessly abundant; Forests and coral reefs always grew back. Ocean algae bloomed and sank into the abyss in an endlessly repeating cycle to replenish our natural fuels. It was perfectly possible to farm alongside nature, to make a profit, and produce healthy food.
The climate has always changed. There have been countless warm (and cold) periods in the past. Even dinosaurs flourished for millions of years in a world devoid of frost or snow or ice.
So there was nothing to worry about. Generations came and generations went. We humans were spirits trapped in bodies which were merely vehicles. What we did or didn't do to the Earth during our custodianship really didn't matter, for the question that really mattered was: Where Would We Spend Eternity?…
Topic Images
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There are currently 115 photographs in this section.
The albatross beneath our feet
Rows of apartment blocks where agent-orange once brewed
The decontaminated site of the Union Carbide plant (1949-86), at Rhodes [Jul-2013 451KB]
From the shore to the plateau
All the time we spent together didn't bring us any closer
Garie North Head, Royal National Park [Jul-2019 753KB]
Outlier Nation
Founded on penal servitude, maintained by the dispossessed, for the benefit of the super-rich
Sugar cane digester spheres in Waterfront Park, at Jacksons Landing [Jan-2013 833KB]
Looking out from the liens den
The potential for redevelopment was endless
View from beneath the Western Distributor, at Darling Harbour [Jul-2017 91KB]
Outwardness within
To be alone was regarded as being the worst possible thing
Sightseeing at The Balconies, Royal National Park NSW [Aug-2019 814KB]
Remarks
A two-speed world
The landscape was restructured to more accurately reflect our social order
The remains of Lawrence Hargrave Drive beside the Sea Cliff bridge, near Coalcliff [Dec-2016 951KB]
Remarks
Hidden externalities
A vivid pile of inclusive spaces to facilitate social cohesion
Centre Place lane-way, Melbourne [Apr-2019 720KB]
Apogee of despair
A surge of opioids killed an increasing number of people aged 35-44 (CDC, 2022)
Kent Street pyramid and A4 overpass, Millers Point [Jan-2014 224KB]
Neo-Monogorod
To encourage immediate relaxation, new apartments promoted a sense of calm and well-being
Melbourne Docklands [Apr-2019 589KB]
Down from the trees and into the meat
It was almost as if we knew the plague was coming
82nd street apartment entrance, NYC [Oct-2017 561KB]
Here we were
Passing paths that climb halfway into the void
(Yes, 1972)
Royal Coastal Track, near Wattamolla [Aug-2020 1093KB]
Remarks
Black bird
… singing in the dead of night
Freshly harvested pine logs awaiting export, Dunedin NZ [Dec-2017 538KB]
Winter wonderland
Weather presenters grinned while talking about unseasonably warm weather
Opera House Plaza in February, Zürich CH [Feb-2024 517KB]
Known unknowns
It was almost as if there wasn't an anthropogenic climate change crisis
Hornby Lighthouse gun emplacement, South Head Sydney [Dec-2014 324KB]
Remarks
A machine to make the land pay
Flinders Road Industry lookout, Port Kembla BlueScope steelworks [Sep-2013 312KB]
Frame your reference
An existence punctuated by crosses & cranes
Elm tree memorial at Lewisham building site [Sep-2015 163KB]
The moral precedence of humanity
We peered through the bay-windows of our forever-homes, yet couldn't see the yachts for the trees
Vandalised Moreton Bay fig tree roots on Wunulla Road, Point Piper [Sep-2012 902KB]
Right by conquest
Our rules-based social order continued to function with utmost efficiency
Poisoned trees at Larkin Street, Waverton [Jul-2017 403KB]
Where even the windows wept
Our villages were filled with and old-school feeling of safety, community and a collective sense of belonging
Factory windows at Chester Lane, Zetland [Sep-2014 655KB]
Angophora sunset
In some places the weird scribbles of the bush stretched all the way to the harbour
Angophora Costatas along the Bradleys Head trail [Aug-2023 1101KB]
Disregarding our descendants
The town did get a bit salty after dark
Hickson Road, Dawes Point Sydney Cove [Jan-2020 1130KB]
Through an augmented sky
All the atmospheric particulates ensured a golden hour for everyone
Sunrise over Bourke Street, Melbourne [Apr-2019 97KB]
Remarks
The hikikomori archipelago
An intricate matrix of domestic ideology to increase the rate of self-incarceration
“Sirius” public housing at The Rocks, which in 2022 was redeveloped into multimillion dollar condos for mum & dad investors [Sep-2016 315KB]
Crosswalk puzzle
Waiting for the white man with the upraised orange palm
Pedestrian crossing at 37th and 5th, NYC [Oct-2017 422KB]
Travel in stylllleeee
And what I hate about traditional carbon offset programmes is so many companies are using them, and they are a fig leaf for a CEO to write a cheque, tick a box, or pretend that they've done the right thing for sustainability when they haven't made one wit of difference in the real world
(Kirby, 2021)
Primary school mosaic on the “Giant Sofa”, Sydenham Green [Sep-2012 545KB]
Black poles
Our world was filled with traces of people we lost
Old Canterbury road, Lewisham [Sep-2015 748KB]
Surf's up
Sandy beaches became problematic in a world of rising oceans
Fairy Bower rocks, Manly [Jan-2021 992KB]
Epic ruin porn
Jack & Jackie died a long time ago; Camelot became an abandoned car-yard
Leo Cushieri Quality Used Cars in Blacktown [Dec-2012 334KB]
On track for Soylent Green
2019 → months of raging bushfires
2020-1 → pandemic lockdowns
2020-3 → torrential rain & flooding from three consecutive La Niñas
2023 → stagflation, interest rate hikes and heatwaves from a super El Niño
SOH Tour group during the 2019 summer bushfires [Jan-2020 451KB]
Remarks
Glacial retreat
Since 1850, [Swiss] glaciers have lost 60% of their volume. As they continue to melt, the country risks losing an important reservoir, affecting farming, hydro-power production and transport on Europe's main waterways.
(Swissinfo, 2021)
Glaciers surrounding Goregrat, near Zermatt CH [Feb-2024 309KB]
Golden sunlit uplands
Import alien species to remind you of home, then watch helplessly as they overwhelm the countryside
The invasive plant species Common Gorse spreads along the Taieri Gorge, NZ [Dec-2017 1005KB]
Remarks
Cars with grunt
Politicians fought tirelessly to ensure tradies could keep upgrading their utes (SMH, 2019)
Penrith Station car park [Oct-2019 523KB]
Wildfulness everywhere
At times the bush was so intense that even the signposts wilted
Illawarra Escarpment Track, above Coalcliff NSW [Oct-2020 786KB]
Appeasing demand
Sawtooth factories rapidly made way for empty apartments
Zetland redevelopment [Nov-2018 445KB]
Potential harbour views
Uninterrupted vistas for our tax-shelter investments
Harbourside Apartments, McMahons Point. In 2021 the building ceased operation as a hotel and the individual apartments were sold off to mum & dad investors, many of whom now advertise as short-stay accommodation [Sep-2018 402KB]
Stack trace
International trade agreements led to enormous economic benefits
The concrete base of the demolished Port Kembla copper stack [Sep-2014 548KB]
Remarks
Home! Sweat Home!
An exile from home splendour dazzles in vain
Oh give me my lowly thatched cottage again
The birds singing gaily that came at my call
And gave me the peace of mind dearer than all
(J.H. Payne, 1823)
Egan Street red-brick flats, Newtown [Nov-2022 1064KB]
PETM reloaded
Nine-month summers, super El Niños, category-six hurricanes, continental bushfires, methane fumaroles, acidified oceans, cubic-kilometres of eutrophication and rivers awash with millions of dead fish. Years of drought followed by months of flooding rain. Millennium events every five years. Every decade and season among the hottest on record. 2023 the hottest year in human history. The sixth mass extinction… Aim low for +1.5°C and congratulate ourselves for overshooting by only 80%
Truck exhaust pipes at Woolloomooloo, in Sydney's east [Oct-2012 178KB]
Remarks
Ready-made solutions
Our Developers were given a blank cheque to do whatever they wanted
Sandbridge pedestrian crossing, Melbourne [Apr-2019 355KB]
Charting success
A million schemes for the world we were going to make
Parramatta Square construction site [Jan-2018 238KB]
World without winter
An analysis of Penrith Lakes AWS temperature data for the period Sep 2017 — Mar 2024, found there were 64 days when the maximum temperature was more than 10°C above the long term average, and only 8 days when it was 10°C less
Darling Harbour shops demolition, Sydney [May-2023 264KB]
Ready to enjoy your renovating touches
Deceased Estate — First Time Offered in 37 Years. Lifestyle studio apartments with iconic Oprah House, Bridge and Harbour views
Misspelled blurb on a real-estate hoarding, Waruda Street Kirribilli [Nov-2020 423KB]
Less is more
A rectangular lattice to corral our inoffensive and risk-adverse lives
Housing demolition on Gray Street, at Kogarah [Apr-2011 320KB]
Game the system
Those with the best view won
Friday night on Sydney Harbour [Jan-2019 420KB]
Scenes from Planet B
More than fifty years later, we remained a small warm dot in the cold dark void
Burning Palms beach before a storm, Royal National Park NSW [Aug-2020 662KB]
For the rest of our lives
Reschedule everything to make retirement a success
Brisbane Str vehicle tarpaulin covers, Bondi Junction [Dec-2018 514KB]
Multilevel regression with post-stratification
Cityscapes were continually redesigned to uplift our spirits
Liberty Place, Castlereagh Street Sydney [Jan-2019 418KB]
Sunset industry
The party had to end sometime
Construction cranes at Barangaroo, Sydney [Jan-2020 174KB]
Boom without end
Sprawl was right, sprawl worked. Sprawl clarified, cut through, and captured the essence of the evolutionary spirit
Diamond Bay cliffs at Dover Heights, in Sydney [Feb-2014 681KB]
After Nature
A brand new Pliocene, with polybutadiene gastropods in a concrete sea
The front yard of an abandoned spare-parts dealer at Tempe in Sydney [Sep-2012 347KB]
From lives to livelihoods
Consumption for symbolic, signalling and cultural reasons
New apartments from old flour mills, Lewisham [Sep-2015 294KB]
This brown and angry land
Urbanites had a lot of trouble adjusting to the chaos of the bush
Scribbly gum moth trails, Illawarra Escarpment track [Oct-2020 539KB]
Captive audience
Cruise ships, nursing homes, schools and daycare centres provided an ideal way to disseminate contagious disease (Sepkowitz, 2014)
Green Thunder waterslide on the “Carnival Spirit” cruise-ship, berthed at Sydney Overseas Passenger Terminal [Dec-2014 325KB]
Late for the sky
The air was eaten, promise crammed
The final blast-furnace at BlueScope Steel, in Port Kembla [Sep-2014 159KB]
Remarks
My variegated village
Machines of extraction between funds and their intended recipients
UTS construction site, Broadway [Jul-2018 527KB]
Neptune's Navy
Broadsides for peace on the wide ocean blue
Sea Shepherd cruiser, Australian National Maritime Museum [Apr-2014 289KB]
Under the waning gibbous moon
The goal was to squeeze as much from the status quo as possible before it collapsed
Re-enacting Quartermass and the Pit at Parramatta [Nov-2017 1074KB]
The memories we created
We knew exactly how the future would remember us
Tree growing in the old Fosters brewery wall (since demolished), at Chippendale in Sydney [Apr-2014 801KB]
Remarks
Reinforced bulwark
The oceans were an ideal place to dump all our unwanted stuff
Concrete erosion blocks, South Wollongong beach [Sep-2014 666KB]
The curated home
Redesign your nest with hygge cosiness
Sutherland Crescent, Darling point [Jan-2017 315KB]
Channelling Sierra Leone
Follow PolAir through Chippendale, run the lights on Enmore road, swerve left at the servo and pull-up across the road from the burnt-out BMW
Enmore smash repairs [May-2023 549KB]
Remarks
Peak skiing
With lower resorts closed due to the lack of snow, skiers all rushed to the mountain tops
The start of the ski run at Gornegrat (3100m elevation), near Zermatt CH [Feb-2024 481KB]
Situation normal
Everything was fine, until it wasn't
Lawsons Auctions car-park, Moore Street Annandale [Sep-2015 410KB]
Remarks
It was fun while it lasted
82M barrels a day (YCharts, 2023) — the greatest achievement of our generation was to make the deserts bloom
Nike Savvas installation at the Art Gallery of NSW [Apr-2014 533KB]
Hedge city
O beautiful for spacious skies, to park our excess wealth
Central Park apartments, Broadway [Jul-2018 539KB]
Out in the open
A few growing pains were a small price to pay to ensure our city remained truly global
Brocks lane construction appraisal, Macdonaldtown [Dec-2022 354KB]
What mean these stones?
We were at the beginning of a mass extinction, and all we could talk about was money and fairytales of eternal economic growth
(Thundberg, 2019)
Iron slag at the Blast Furnace Park in Lithgow [Aug-2012 594KB]
Remarks
A wound that would not heal
O2 + (UV) → 2 O•
O2 + O• → O3
O3 + (UV) → O2 + O•
CCl2F2 + (UV) → CClF2• + Cl•
Cl• + O3 → ClO• + O2
ClO• + O• → O2 + Cl•
2 ClO• + (UV) → O2 + 2 Cl•
Sunburst above the Wollongong Sewage Works [Feb-2011 183KB]
Foundations of a globalist millennium
Ceaseless construction underpinned our faith in productivity and internationalism
Parammatta Square construction site [Jul-2018 198KB]
Well-hidden symmetries
What to most was a frenetic mess, was to some a landscape filled with intricate patterns and connections
Southbank lighting store, Melbourne [Apr-2019 884KB]
This tun of treasure
We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives
(Criswell, 1959)
The Green Square Waste garbage facility (since demolished) at O'Riordan Street (Daily Telegraph, 2014) [Aug-2014 594KB]
Rising above
Endless views to match our ambitions
Eureka sky-deck café patrons, Melbourne [Apr-2019 437KB]
Permissive Occupancy
We, the legatees of adverse possession, hereupon swear to lobby and plead and flatter and appeal and threaten and randomly proclaim “significant heritage values” in order to enjoy our rightful seaside retreats deep inside a public national park
RNP shack at Little Garie, NSW [Jul-2019 658KB]
Troglodyte world
Going underground to evade the consequences
Underground escalators at Macquarie University railway station, Sydney [Feb-2016 513KB]
How green was my valley
The greatest accomplishment of my generation was the systematic destruction everyone's childhood
Winter valley below Mürren CH [Feb-2024 832KB]
Remarks
User funnelling
To paraphrase Lewis Mumford: the apotheosis of cities was to channel people from one checkout to the next
The M4 Western Distributor at Darling Harbour in Sydney [Jul-2012 188KB]
Untapped potential
It was a time when sustainable development opportunities could be found in every direction
Florabella Pass walking track, Blue Mountains [May-2019 986KB]
Memories of what's to come
The last thing we wanted to do was extirpate all the large vertebrates (WWF, 2018)
Deceased sulfur-crested cockatoo, Warrimoo [Dec-2017 255KB]
Remarks
Bright shining billions
The Great Architect stood with his hands on his hips and proclaimed: You too shall have a bone-yard
The Westfield World Trade Center atrium, NYC [Oct-2017 307KB]
Aquatic dysphoria
The hydrosphere was loaded with enough heavy-metals and micro-plastics to make our marine-life indestructible
Storm-water grating at McCauley Lane in Alexandria [Mar-2018 615KB]
Urban ornithology
It was amazing how well feathered organisms could adapt to living on the sixteenth floor
Rainbow lorikeets at the kitchen window at dinnertime, Harbourside Apartments [Jan-2019 252KB]
Jobs not trees
Planning proposals had to respect or enhance the existing local character of the area
Bowden Street construction site, Alexandria [Jul-2023 486KB]
Shoulder season
Work commenced to identify and implement the next wave of positive reforms
Backyard firewood at Blackheath NSW [Aug-2019 736KB]
Re-imagining urban life
Our prosperity was measured in traffic and cranes
Construction cranes at Australian Technology Park [Mar-2018 507KB]
Day-tripping
The greater our impact on nature, the more we wanted to see it
The Waterrun, Royal National Park NSW [Aug-2019 682KB]
Remarks
Siri versus wild
Here's one of me tweeting that I uploaded a TikTok of myself taking a selfie while on holidays somewhere
The viewing platform of the Scenic Railway at Katoomba [Nov-2011 904KB]
Buckley's chance
Going nowhere was better than going backwards
Coastal track upgrading works at the Royal National Park, NSW [Jul-2019 762KB]
Infinity pool
Unlimited growth was questioned many times, but it never let us down
Figure 8 Pool, Royal National Park [Oct-2019 576KB]
Non curamus
I direct council to amend its draft planning-scheme to remove any assumption about a theoretical projected sea level rise due to climate change
(Seeney, 2014)
Rock ledge at The Waterrun, Royal National Park NSW [Aug-2019 804KB]
Create your own future
Swans enjoyed paddling around on a lake filled with pleasantly warm water
A swan grazing in February, Lake Lucerne CH [Feb-2024 439KB]
Across the roaring forties
Just one summer in western Sydney: 43.5°C (2017-12-14), 44.1°C (2017-12-19), 43.6°C (2017-12-20), 42.1°C (2017-12-24), 40.4°C (2017-12-29), 42.3°C (2018-01-06), 47.3°C (2018-01-07), 42.5°C (2018-01-08), 40.5°C (2018-01-19), 40.2°C (2018-01-20), 40.3°C (2018-01-21), 43.2°C (2018-01-22), 40.0°C (2018-02-14), 40.0°C (2018-02-24) (Aust BOM, 2018)
117°F in the shade, the hottest Sydney temperature since 1939 (ABC News, 2018). The following summer there was a new record of 48.9°C on 2019-01-04. In July 2023 it was the northern hemisphere's turn [Jan-2018 123KB]
Damnatio futuri
A study has shown that our children were on course to become the richest generation in history
Olympian Rock walkway after a deliberately lit bushfire, Leura [Oct-2011 690KB]
A domain of wreaths
Ideally, we should live as free people. Sensibly, we must live under guard
(Daily Telegraph, 2018)
Papered-over window display in Henry Str Lewisham [Sep-2015 229KB]
This fatal shore
A remote and hostile land where the unwanted were sent to be forgotten
The boulder-strewn shoreline on the way to Figure 8 Pool, Royal National Park [Oct-2019 485KB]
Magnificent isolation
Many embraced the lockdowns because it freed them to do the things they always wanted
Waruda Street apartment stairwell, Kirribilli [Nov-2020 71KB]
The problem with problems
There were constant reminders about how neurodivergent/ dependent/ fragile/ isolated/ confused/ befuddled/ bewildered/ undiagnosed/ powerless/ hapless/ helpless/ humiliated/ defeated/ depressed/ oppressed/ anxious/ anguished/ harassed/ stalked/ victimised/ violated/ dehumanised/ traumatised/ wild-eyed panic-stricken everyone was
Domain car parking station [Jul-2018 374KB]
Structure and psyche
As aficionados of space and creativity, architects don't merely design – they create environments, inside and out, and spaces that function well; to mediate the dialogue between the boundaries of architecture and design, exterior and interior realms, and bring forth works of singular vision to express joy and form
The remains of the Jonley Australia plastics factory in Meadowbank [Jan-2014 774KB]
The signs were all there
The pressure kept increasing, but everything was still within safe limits
Steam relief chimney, Dey Street NYC [Oct-2017 256KB]
Flygskam
One cheap long-haul flight produced more CO2 per passenger than driving an SUV for months
Runway approach lights, Sydney International Airport [May-2019 119KB]
Inside the tiger
Every rabbit was chased down every hole
Coal Loader tunnel, Waverton [Jul-2017 652KB]
Controlled flight into terrain
There was never quite enough time for the Eagle to land
Looking south from Garie Head North, Royal National Park NSW [Aug-2020 546KB]
Smoke on the water
When the sun came out, you could almost forget it was the middle of winter
Day trippers at Lake Geneva, Montreux CH [Feb-2024 350KB]
More days at the beach
Sunbathe to your heart's content and wear your black havis all year round
Miniature snowman at Blackheath Oval [Aug-2019 719KB]
The wealth of future generations
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance
(Declaration of Independence, 1766)
6th Avenue office buildings, NYC [Oct-2017 654KB]
Made by We
The four seasons of positive climate reform
Blue mountains seasons [Dec-2019 728KB]
The men in the high castle
The benefits of fifty years of neoliberalism were there for all to see
BP Site bund wall, Waverton [Jul-2017 638KB]
111 false dawns
Waiting for the pandemic to recede for long enough to celebrate another birthday
Sunrise over the Bourke Street Mall, Melbourne [Apr-2019 165KB]
Snafu City
A patchwork of failed-states, ruled over by unaccountable leaders, where distrust, stagnation, corruption and absence of social cohesion were systematically ignored
Apartment towers surrounding Chatswood railway station [Feb-2016 429KB]
The big smoke
[In December 2019…] Bushfire smoke pushed Sydney's air quality index rating to 2,552. That's 11 times higher than the level considered hazardous. And it's well below air quality index readings in cities in China, India, and other places known as hotbeds of air pollution.
(Gizmodo, 2019)
Weeks of bushfire smoke in Sydney. Four years later it was New York's turn [Jan-2020 259KB]
Force majeure
Politicians kept getting elected on a platform of climate change denial, until they weren't
Post-election garbage bins at Copeland Ave, Macdonaldtown [May-2022 702KB]
Wish the sun to stand still
For a short while it remained possible to spend all day outside
Sunbathing on the sea-wall steps at Nielsen Park's Shark Beach, Vaucluse (since demolished) [Dec-1990 709KB]
Volunteer sacrifice
According to former fire chiefs, relying on large numbers of volunteers to fight bushfires was not necessarily a sign of inadequate funding, but possibly the best way to do it
(SBS, 2019)
Waterfall Bushfire Volunteers Memorial, commemorating the death of five volunteers in Nov 1980 [Sep-2020 1037KB]
Tranquillity Bantustan
The charred tree-trunks, the ferns and weeds, the rutted track which never seemed to end
Forest Trail, Illawarra Escarpment near Wollongong [Oct-2020 1075KB]
Markers of social progress
Signposts to reinforce things we already knew
Abandoned used-car dealership sign, Church Str Parramatta [Jul-2017 220KB]
Dam the Franklin
Environmental activism to prevent the construction of dams in one of the most remote and inaccessible parts of the Earth
Protesting the building of dams on the Franklin River in Tasmania [Feb-1983 566KB]