Behold, the follies of humankind! In our endless foolishness, we saw fit to construct a vast metropolis atop the bone-dry soil of a drought-ravaged wasteland. How could we be so arrogant? Here are six photographs of the parched, barren landscape that prove that man was never meant to build a city in the desert.

1. How naïve we were to think we could survive here, in this land of dust and ash. The tyrannical sun looked down on us impassively as we attempted to impose civilization on this untamable wasteland. What delusions of immortality possessed us?

2. We built our garish edifices toward the heavens in the land of no rain. In doing so, we thumbed our noses at the natural order of things. Each building in the skyline is the Tower of Babel in miniature—a renewed affront to God and nature.

3. We thought we were stronger than nature. What abominable pride. The desert will swallow our desiccated carcasses, and the sands will forget our footprints.

4. And beyond the desert, an endless expanse of salty water that man cannot drink. Is this saline abyss not itself a desert? What appalling arrogance to think our civilization could withstand the ancient cruelty of this landscape! We will die here in this nightmare world of dust and heat, and our bones will lie bleaching among the ruins of our withered metropolis.

5. Look now upon the myth of Icarus writ large across the Western seaboard. Just like that doomed, winged boy of legend, we shall be destroyed by the sun as punishment for our hubris, and our charred bodies will tumble into the sea.

6. A city in the desert. Perverse. Disgusting. It is the reckless dream of our collective insanity. Now, in this water-starved netherworld where no crops can find purchase, we shall reap what we sow. This hellscape will destroy us. Our ashes will mingle with the desert sand, and we will be lost to memory.

6 Drought Pictures That Prove That Man Was Never Meant To Build A City In The Desert

1. How naïve we were to think we could survive here, in this land of dust and ash. The tyrannical sun looked down on us impassively as we attempted to impose civilization on this untamable wasteland. What delusions of immortality possessed us?

2. We built our garish edifices toward the heavens in the land of no rain. In doing so, we thumbed our noses at the natural order of things. Each building in the skyline is the Tower of Babel in miniature—a renewed affront to God and nature.

3. We thought we were stronger than nature. What abominable pride. The desert will swallow our desiccated carcasses, and the sands will forget our footprints.

5. Look now upon the myth of Icarus writ large across the Western seaboard. Just like that doomed, winged boy of legend, we shall be destroyed by the sun as punishment for our hubris, and our charred bodies will tumble into the sea.