Vanishing wild

Earth has lost one-tenth of its wilderness area since 1993 due to human activities, according to a new study.

Researchers from Australia’s University of Queensland and the Wildlife Conservation Society found formerly untouched landscapes twice the size of Alaska were either deforested or otherwise lost during the period, mainly in the Amazon and Central America.

Wilderness is defined as an area free from significant human disturbance such as urbanization and agriculture.

A little more than 20 percent of the world’s land area is still considered as wilderness, mainly located in North America, North Asia, North Africa and Australia.