In the Australian outback, a vision of our uncertain future By Document Journal

Document Journal

In the Australian outback, a vision of our uncertain future — At Large
In the Australian outback, a vision of our uncertain future

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Document Journal

Photography by
Laurence Ellis

Posted
August 12, 2020

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Anangu have lived in the Australian deserts for millennia, but rising temperatures threaten to make the region inhospitable to humans

For Document’s Spring/Summer 2020 issue, photographer Laurence Ellis brought us face-to-face with a present that could become our collective future should we fail to fundamentally change our relationship to the environment. In our second digital installment, we visit the desert plains of Australia, where human-caused climate change has worsened the ongoing cycle of droughts, wildfires, mudslides, and floods. Ellis’s portfolio helps us understand the stakes in a region where climate change’s harrowing effects are already felt.

Click here for our first installment, exploring how Vietnam’s ‘plastic village’ is a tale of Western excess.

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Australia Document No. 16 Environment

In the Australian outback, a vision of our uncertain future

The desert plains of Uluru-Kata Tjuta, in Austalia’s
Northern Territoyseen in the shadows of Uluru. The
Aṉangu, the term used by many Indiginous people in
Central Western desert region to describe themselves, have considered
it a sacred site for more than 10,000 years. The area is often referred to
as Australia’s “red center” due to the vivid red coloring of the earth and sandstone produced by remnant iron oxides which have accumulated over millions of years.

Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, on the rare occasions that it fills, is the largest lake in Australia (3,668 square miles). The lake borders Kalamurina Sanctuary,
a nature preserve in
northeastern South Australia—one of the remotest parts of the country. The climate in Kalamurina
is unforgiving, but the basin is one of the best preserved arid river basin systems
on the planet, uniquely untouched by modern irrigation systems. Indigenous Australians have long fought against attempts at major irrigation, dams, and floodplain developments.

A desert landscape in the remote outback of South Australia seen from the Oodnadatta track, which follows a traditional Australian Aboriginal trading route. Oodnadatta is one
of the hottest places on the planet. The mean maximum temperature is now 102.4°F, up almost 2°F since data became available in 1940. Scientists believe that large
swaths of Australia could eventually become too hot and too dry for humans to reside as global temperatures increase.

Walpa Gorge is a creek that winds between the tallest
domes of Kata Tjuṯa. There
are many Tjukurpa, or Pitjantjatjara Dreamtime legends, associated with this place, though the majority of mythology surrounding the site is not disclosed to outsiders. To avoid revealing any sacred places, the Aṉangu people ask that both sides of the gorge are depicted in photographs and other representations.

A dried-up riverbed in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. The area is home to the Adnyamathanha poeple, the descendants of traditional groups of Aboriginal people who lived in the Flinders Ranges and on the surrounding plains.
The continent’s dry
and variable climate
is becoming more arid and unpredictable. New geological records from the past 400 years show that the major droughts that occured throughout the last century are likely unprecedented.

The Kapi Mutitjulu waterhole at the base of the Uluru monolith in Australia’s Northern Territory. Aṉangu respect Kapi Mutitjulu as the
home of Wanampi, an ancestral water snake that has the power to control this sacred source of water, or Kapi. For generations, Aṉangu would
sing ‘Kuka Kuka’ to ask
Wanampi to let the Kapi flow into the waterhole.

Arkaroo Rock, a significant cultural site for the Adnyamathanha people. The ochre and charcoal images depict aspects of the Yura Muda (dreaming) for Ikara (Wilpena Pound). The stories, language, and many beliefs have been passed down through 1,006 generations of the Adnyamathanha people, the oldest surviving culture on earth.

Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Charred and burnt trees alongside newly sprouting growth, including Grass trees, or Xanthorrhoea, which
grow easily following wildfires. The destruction to Kangaroo Island by the 2020 wildfires was unprecedented, destroying almost half the island. Between 30
to 40 percent of the island’s kangaroos are believed to have died, as well as a third of its koalas.

The desert plains of Uluru-Kata Tjuta, in Austalia’s
Northern Territoyseen in the shadows of Uluru. The
Aṉangu, the term used by many Indiginous people in
Central Western desert region to describe themselves, have considered
it a sacred site for more than 10,000 years. The area is often referred to
as Australia’s “red center” due to the vivid red coloring of the earth and sandstone produced by remnant iron oxides which have accumulated over millions of years.

Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, on the rare occasions that it fills, is the largest lake in Australia (3,668 square miles). The lake borders Kalamurina Sanctuary,
a nature preserve in
northeastern South Australia—one of the remotest parts of the country. The climate in Kalamurina
is unforgiving, but the basin is one of the best preserved arid river basin systems
on the planet, uniquely untouched by modern irrigation systems. Indigenous Australians have long fought against attempts at major irrigation, dams, and floodplain developments.

A desert landscape in the remote outback of South Australia seen from the Oodnadatta track, which follows a traditional Australian Aboriginal trading route. Oodnadatta is one
of the hottest places on the planet. The mean maximum temperature is now 102.4°F, up almost 2°F since data became available in 1940. Scientists believe that large
swaths of Australia could eventually become too hot and too dry for humans to reside as global temperatures increase.

Walpa Gorge is a creek that winds between the tallest
domes of Kata Tjuṯa. There
are many Tjukurpa, or Pitjantjatjara Dreamtime legends, associated with this place, though the majority of mythology surrounding the site is not disclosed to outsiders. To avoid revealing any sacred places, the Aṉangu people ask that both sides of the gorge are depicted in photographs and other representations.

A dried-up riverbed in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. The area is home to the Adnyamathanha poeple, the descendants of traditional groups of Aboriginal people who lived in the Flinders Ranges and on the surrounding plains.
The continent’s dry
and variable climate
is becoming more arid and unpredictable. New geological records from the past 400 years show that the major droughts that occured throughout the last century are likely unprecedented.

The Kapi Mutitjulu waterhole at the base of the Uluru monolith in Australia’s Northern Territory. Aṉangu respect Kapi Mutitjulu as the
home of Wanampi, an ancestral water snake that has the power to control this sacred source of water, or Kapi. For generations, Aṉangu would
sing ‘Kuka Kuka’ to ask
Wanampi to let the Kapi flow into the waterhole.

Arkaroo Rock, a significant cultural site for the Adnyamathanha people. The ochre and charcoal images depict aspects of the Yura Muda (dreaming) for Ikara (Wilpena Pound). The stories, language, and many beliefs have been passed down through 1,006 generations of the Adnyamathanha people, the oldest surviving culture on earth.

Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Charred and burnt trees alongside newly sprouting growth, including Grass trees, or Xanthorrhoea, which
grow easily following wildfires. The destruction to Kangaroo Island by the 2020 wildfires was unprecedented, destroying almost half the island. Between 30
to 40 percent of the island’s kangaroos are believed to have died, as well as a third of its koalas.