Wilderness lost: A 10th wiped out in 20 years

(Globalization, driven by a distorted capitalism, is voraciously gnawing at the earth’s remaining wilderness areas, while apologists of this insatiable need for growth argue environmentalists and like-minded people are over-reacting to what they see as little more than nibbling around the edges. The evidence, however, suggests otherwise and by the end of the century, there will be few if any significant wilderness areas left on the planet.

Those wilderness areas are important for a host of reasons, among them species survival, including our own, and the importance of that “wild country” to the stability of Earth’s “Goldilocks-like atmosphere – Robert McLean.)

Species of all types, including us
depend upon the world's
decimated wilderness areas.

Wilderness areas on Earth have experienced alarming losses in the past two decades, a new study suggests. By comparing global maps from the present day and the early 1990s, researchers have concluded that a 10th of all the world's wilderness has been lost in just 20 years.

The study, published in the journal Current Biology, finds that just over 30 million square kilometres of wilderness remains on Earth, composing nearly a quarter of the planet's terrestrial area. On the other hand, 3.3 million square kilometres have been lost since the early 1990s.

The losses were more pronounced in some areas than in others. South America lost nearly 30 percent of its wilderness area, and Africa lost about 14 percent. Overall, most of the remaining wilderness is concentrated in North America, North Asia, North Africa and Australia, the researchers note.

"Wilderness was defined as any area on Earth which didn't have a human footprint," explained James Watson, an associate professor at the University of Queensland, director of science and research at the Wildlife Conservation Society and the new study's lead author.

Read Chelsea Harvey’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Wilderness lost: A 10th wiped out in 20 years.”