Variantology is a neologism and an international research project that encompasses a playful and critical mashup of archaeology, art, technology, and media. This presentation utilizes the variantology lens as a way to consider paleofuturism as a predictive force. Volcanic lightning, a little frog, and various sizes and versions of cephalopods are active agents, in this context, that bind pre-Columbian chiefdoms facing severe drought or violent eruptions and contemporary residents of New York City experiencing sea-level rise in real time. Through wide ranges of times and places, humans have faced environmental crises through the best technology at their disposal to image and imagine environmental pasts and futures. We currently have advanced technology and data capabilities to image the paleogeology of a much younger Earth, the atmospheric conditions of a post-1.5 degree Celsius on a near-future planet, or a terraformed Mars. What are the impacts and responsibilities of this ability to envision different time frames upon those of us currently alive?