PREFACE

This thesis presents a future world created by humans bent on exhausting natural resources and ignoring environmental signs of change. Animals and humans are being allowed to suffer irreversible damage.

In this scenario it is now 2550, years beyond the end of the era of the anthropocene. The repercussions of centuries of human destruction have caused a global transformation within ecosystems. This new era highlights moments where the entire planet is undergoing transformation due to the hundreds of years of human destruction. At this point in time, every square mile of Earth is thriving, despite the extreme ecological conditions. Organisms that were once called animals are far removed from that to the extent where we now see them as creatures due to their feral behaviors. These creatures are now significantly altered due to the drastic transformation they undergone to adapt to new environments that are shaped by human activity. Scientists, journalists, and researchers are speculating on these creatures’ behavior and their abilities to survive using adaptation techniques. The way these creatures have adapted, developing unique behaviors and traits, and altering their living conditions to thrive within the ecosystem is truly fascinating. Photographers are playing a crucial role in documenting and capturing this “natural” world with captivating images that exhibit the beauties and intricacies of unique moments within environments. The imagery provided offers a glance into the world of these evolved creatures and their relationship to the environment. These photographers, scientists, and journalists highlight the resilience and adaptability of flora and fauna on Earth even after facing centuries of human-induced destruction. Centuries ago humans exploited natural resources at phenomenally high rates. These exploitations were predominantly from the commodification of natural resources, like oil, and wood. This, along with industrial development threatened environmental wellbeing and accelerated the impact of climate change. Forests were cut down, ecosystems destroyed, and with the onset of nuclear power harmful toxins were released into the environment. This was all solely for the pleasure and necessity of the human population. At one point in time humans were depleting natural resources at nearly double the rate at which the resources could regenerate. This destruction prompted the start of extreme ecosystem and biodiversity loss. Climate change had passed the point of no return. Animals were going extinct at alarming fast rates. Coral reefs vanished, and slowly but surely humans turned to technological developments as a saving grace for their misfortune. This eventually left the world plagued by the tragedies of human development.

Humans began abandoning these sites of destruction when natural resources were tapped dry or when nuclear radiation forced people out of their homes. The sites were detrimentally altered by such destruction. Simultaneously extreme weather patterns started emerging and natural disasters became frequent. All of this combined to leave the environment in disarray. Who felt the burden of these events? It was primarily the nonhuman species left behind to face a new world plagued by toxins. While some animals struggled to survive in these environments, other animals adapted to their new conditions. Due to the tremendous biodiversity loss, seen globally, over forty percent of the world species disappeared. And humans? Nowhere to be found.

Centuries later researchers and photographers set foot on these destroyed lands, documenting and reflecting on their findings. They focused on two sites of destruction: the Athabasca oil sands and Chernobyl. In order to understand how these species and environments have adapted, these mutant hotspots were examined due to their clear effect on the animal kingdom. Deforested sites of oil fracking highlight the destructive pursuits of capitalism and the commodification of natural materials. Chernobyl showcases how human errors in design have led to catastrophic changes to an ecosystem and altered the genetic composition of native species to this area. Documenting these sites is just the beginning in researching humans long term effects on the planet, and the repercussions environments are facing.

Despite the unethical and disastrous circumstances that humans created, animals’ have been able to adapt because of their instinctual abilities. Dispersed throughout the world are hotspots which highlight these adaptations. Visiting Chernobyl uncovered three legged amphibians that camouflage to avoid being hunted by elk. The oil sands uncovered a new species of snake, the Oleum Snake. These snakes hunt for fish in the depths of the river and hide from larger snakes that are their prey. Scattered throughout the rest of the world are various species adapting to their habitats; five legged horses, microscopic termites, giant flies, and color-changing jellyfish just to name a few.

The areas that were left abandoned by humans have experienced a revival of thriving ecosystems. The resilience of nature has unexpectedly transformed desolate landscapes into beautifully toxic yet flourishing environments. Humans are no longer able to live in these degraded environments due to the increased levels of toxicity. They have found ways to evolutionize and live using technology choosing to live on enclosed manmade islands isolated from the destroyed landscapes. Cutting-edge technology has been integrated into humans providing them with essential support to face the challenges posed by chemically toxic landscapes.

Over the years humans have relied heavily on technology to help them survive. Currently, humans are implementing creature adaptation techniques into technological softwares in order to create machinery that helps them thrive despite artificial or natural disasters. The fusion of technology and nature has created revolutionary machinery that allows humans to thrive on the same planet as the chemical and toxic areas. The research and implementation of creature adaptation techniques has been a crucial component of the year 2550. The relationship between humans and technology has increased while the relationship of human to creature has decreased. However, the importance of non-human organisms is still crucial in understanding and investigating resilience and adaptability in non-human organisms and mimicking those behaviors for human evolution.

The capitalocene, anthropocene, and technocine are now just historic moments in time. The year 2550 is one marked by the independent connections between humans, flora and fauna. Humans function autonomously as separate entities from other living organisms. They continue to study the resilience, adaptability, and behavioral tactics from non-human organisms as it is crucial for their technological evolution in the ever-changing world they created. Centuries ago, humans exploited most of Earth’s natural resources at unsustainable rates, leading to the demise of many species and extreme climate conditions. Forests were destroyed, ecosystems were lost and creatures were becoming extinct at unprecedented rates. Abandoned sites of destruction became extremely toxic to the point where humans could no longer access these sites and extreme weather conditions were exacerbated reaching levels where no human could survive.

Humans rely on technology to help them survive these new degraded environments. However, creatures embrace their natural instincts and behavioral techniques to adapt to new living conditions. Creatures remain on the lands they have always inhabited and humans isolate themselves in new man-made environments. Since humans are no longer able to co-live within creature ecosystems, creatures are now thriving more than they ever had. Although new formations of life are being discovered, these creatures are flourishing in inhumane and toxic ways as they have been significantly altered due to human-influenced disasters. 2550 represents a paradigm shift in the relationship between humans, flora, and fauna, where the lack of a relationship between them has evolved as a defining characteristic of the new era.

WRITTEN BY CHARLOTTE BASCOMBE + ANDREA DE HARO

75 - 100% Severity of Destruction

50 - 75% Severity of Destruction

25 - 50% Severity of Destruction

0 - 25% Severity of Destruction

High level of air toxicity