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Fading Earth Observing the silent decay. Cinematic stories of a fading and healing earth.

10/14/2026

Two Floods, One Fire: How Denver Grew From a Gold Camp

Hunters were butchering mammoths along the South Platte about 12,850 years ago.

Arapaho bands wintered where Cherry Creek meets the river until gold seekers staked rival towns here in 1858. Fire, floods and rail yards followed before the banks became parkland in 1975.

1863 — Great Fire of 1863, about 70 buildings lost
1864 — Cherry Creek Flood of 1864, the Rocky Mountain News office swept away
1965 — South Platte Flood of 1965, over $500 million in damage

Plains cottonwood, one of few trees native to Colorado’s plains, can resprout from young stumps.

Sources: Denver Public Library, Colorado Encyclopedia, National Weather Service

Visuals are AI-generated illustrations. Dates and figures are from historical records.

In 163 years the Mer de Glace has sunk deep below the Montenvers viewpoint.1863 — A crevassed sea of ice fills the valle...
10/14/2026

In 163 years the Mer de Glace has sunk deep below the Montenvers viewpoint.

1863 — A crevassed sea of ice fills the valley
1988 — Ice has dropped and a cable car opens
2026 — Rock-covered ice lies deep in the trough

The 1988 view follows ice-level records and site accounts; finer surface details are not recorded.

10/13/2026

Christchurch Over 720 Years: From Flax Swamp to Rebuilt City

In 2011, an earthquake killed 185 people in central Christchurch.

Central Christchurch was built on drained swamp beside the Avon River. Māori settled Canterbury around 1300; British colonists laid out the city from 1850. Floods and earthquakes have reshaped it since.

1868 — Christchurch Flood of 1868, Victoria Square under about 1 metre of water
1888 — 1888 North Canterbury Earthquake, cathedral spire top collapsed
2011 — 2011 Christchurch Earthquake, over a quarter of central buildings demolished

Tī kōuka, the cabbage tree, can resprout from underground rhizomes after losing its trunk.

Sources: Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Christchurch City Council, NIWA

Visuals are AI-generated illustrations. Dates and figures are from historical records.

The Reichstag’s dome, wrecked in the Second World War, was demolished in 1954.1894 — Completed with an iron and glass do...
10/13/2026

The Reichstag’s dome, wrecked in the Second World War, was demolished in 1954.

1894 — Completed with an iron and glass dome
1945 — Heavily damaged shell under a wrecked dome
1972 — Rebuilt by Paul Baumgarten, with no dome
2026 — Glass dome by Norman Foster since 1999

The 1954 demolition was justified by fears the damaged dome could collapse.

10/12/2026

Montreal Over 4,500 Years: From Hunting Camp to Old Port

In December 1642, floodwater reached the door of Montreal’s first fort.

This point, where a small stream met the St. Lawrence, drew Indigenous hunter-gatherers around 2500 BC. French settlers founded Ville-Marie here in 1642. Fires, floods, a canal and a busy port then turned it into Old Montreal.

1642 — Founding of Ville-Marie, about 50 settlers
1849 — Burning of the Parliament Buildings in Montreal
1886 — Flood of 1886, some 20,000 families affected

Sugar maple still dominates Montreal’s oldest woodlands and can resprout from a cut stump.

Sources: Pointe-à-Callière Montréal Archaeology and History Complex, The Canadian Encyclopedia, Old Port of Montréal Corporation

Visuals are AI-generated illustrations. Dates and figures are from historical records.

Sagrada Família’s Tower of Jesus Christ was crowned with its cross in February 2026.1926 — Gaudí dies with one bell towe...
10/12/2026

Sagrada Família’s Tower of Jesus Christ was crowned with its cross in February 2026.

1926 — Gaudí dies with one bell tower finished
1976 — Passion facade towers join the Nativity four
2010 — Nave roofed and consecrated as a basilica
2026 — Tower of Jesus Christ reaches 172.5 metres

The basilica remains unfinished, with interior work on the central tower running into 2028.

10/11/2026

New Orleans Over 2,500 Years: From Canebrake to French Quarter

In 1788, a single fire destroyed 856 of New Orleans’ 1,100 buildings.

Native peoples lived around New Orleans for at least 2,500 years before the French founded the city on this high riverbank in 1718. Hurricanes, fire and war remade it again and again.

1722 — Hurricane of 1722, then the French Quarter street grid
1788 — Great New Orleans Fire of 1788, 856 buildings lost
2005 — Hurricane Katrina; the French Quarter’s high ground escaped the flooding

Southern live oaks, native to Louisiana’s natural levees, resprout readily from their roots.

Sources: 64 Parishes (Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities), USDA Forest Service, The Times-Picayune

Visuals are AI-generated illustrations. Dates and figures are from historical records.

The Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 World’s Fair on a 20-year permit.1887 — Four iron legs rise from stone footings1...
10/11/2026

The Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 World’s Fair on a 20-year permit.

1887 — Four iron legs rise from stone footings
1888 — Second platform completed in August
1889 — Finished on 31 March, painted red
2026 — Standing in its golden yellow-brown coat

A permanent radio station built in 1909 led to a 70-year extension of the permit from 1910.

10/10/2026

From River Marsh to Flood-Defended City: York, 71–2026

In November 2000, the River Ouse rose 5.4 metres above its normal level.

York grew where the Ouse meets the smaller River Foss, on ground the Roman Ninth Legion fortified in 71. Over 1,955 years, castles, prisons, warehouses and car parks replaced the marshy floodplain, but the meeting of two rivers kept shaping the city.

71 — Roman fortress founded by the Ninth Legion
1069 — Fire of 1069, set to defend the Norman castles, spreads through the city
1684 — Fire of 1684 guts the castle keep

English oak, native to the Vale of York, can regrow from a cut stump.

Sources: Environment Agency, English Heritage, British History Online

Visuals are AI-generated illustrations. Dates and figures are from historical records.

The Rhone Glacier reached its last maximum at Gletsch in 1856, 170 years ago. 1856 — Ice spreads across the Gletsch vall...
10/10/2026

The Rhone Glacier reached its last maximum at Gletsch in 1856, 170 years ago.

1856 — Ice spreads across the Gletsch valley floor
1900 — Tongue still touches the valley floor
2026 — Ice begins above a bare rock step

In 2026 the Rhone Glacier had its strongest melt on record, according to GLAMOS 💔.

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