Humans have had a pretty big impact on our planet,
from building intricate cities connected by thousands of miles of
roadways to the way we've been warming the planet with
industry.
But now a new study by researchers from the University
of Baltimore,
MD County reveals just how big an impact humanity has
also had on the ecology of the world.
This map shows the change of anthromes,
or human land use biomes,
all over the world, with each interval providing an illustration
of humanity's effects on the globe over millennia,
centuries, and decade intervals. As the animation moves through the
years,
you can see the effects of humankind on land all
over the world.
According to the study, humans have reshaped most of the
ecology over the face of the entire planet over the
last 12 millennia,
Professor of Geography and Environmental Systems at the University of
Baltimore,
MD County Doctor Earl Ellis said about the findings.
Quote our work shows that most areas depicted as untouched,
wild and natural are actually areas with long histories of
human inhabitation and use.
Adding areas untouched by people were almost as rare 12,000
years ago as they are today,
which some say could change our understanding of conservation and
living on this planet.
Shifting away from a hands off preservation style approach and
moving to a more traditional and indigenous peoples way of
living more sustainably within nature.