There's something inherently eye catching about a vintage travel posters.
During the 1940s, the Works Progress Administration — the New Deal agency that put Americans to work on infrastructure projects — created a series of advertisements for the country's national parks. The posters showcase the beauty and diversity of the US landscape, and urge Americans to visit the parks and preserve the wildlife therein.
But pollution, human interference, and climate change have since put unprecedented levels of stress on many ecosystems, and the Trump administration is reviewing rules that prohibit drilling and mining on public lands. If overturned, that may put many national parks at risk of degradation, according to Vox.
With those threats in mind, artist Hannah Rothstein created new posters based on the WPA's old-school aesthetic. In her re-imagining, our parks have been wrecked. The forests of the Great Smoky Mountains are on fire, and instead of the "nature walks, all day hikes, and lectures" advertised on the original poster, Rothstein's remake boasts "extreme weather events, species die-off, and wildfires."
Rothstein created the project, called "National Parks 2050", as a way to make the risks of climate change seem more immediate. She is selling the posters and donating 25% of the proceeds to climate-related causes.
Check out some of the dystopian artworks below, alongside the original versions they're based on. You can view the full collection on Rothstein's website.
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Everglades National Park (Florida)
Great Smoky Mountains National Park (North Carolina and Tennessee)
Redwood National and State Parks (California)
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