New Delhi: The world lost 10% of the wilderness in just twenty years and we are solely responsible for this catastrophe, according to a recent study.
The researchers at University of Queensland and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) found that aggressive human activities have damaged an area twice the size of Alaska (3.3million square kilometers) between 1939 and today.
The massive loss occurred in Amazon forest and Central Africa that lost large swaths of their pristine biological and ecological intact landscapes. Out of the total 3.3 million square kilometers loss, the Amazon forest suffered nearly a third and about 14% was destroyed in Central Africa.
In the theory, outlined in Current Biology, researchers have concluded that 30.1 million square kilometers of wilderness are left today, which is equal to one-fourth of the Earth's total land mass and these wilderness are mostly concentrated in North America, North Asia, North Africa and Australia.
The international team of researchers, led by Professor James Watson of WSC said that if such trends continue, there could be no globally significant wilderness areas left in less than a century.
