Environment

Human Activity

A new study finds that human activities have transformed nearly a fifth of the planet’s land surface since the 1960s, roughly equivalent to the areas of Europe and Africa combined.

During that period, Earth’s forest cover alone has been reduced by nearly a million square kilometers, with farmland and grazing pastures increasing by about the same amount. While forests have actually expanded in the Northern Hemisphere during the past 60 years, they have been disappearing at an alarming rate to the south. This is because of the growing production of beef, sugar cane and soybean in the Amazon, palm oil in Southeast Asia and cocoa in Nigeria and Cameroon.

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