To the Woods!
A study by two US biologists, published recently in the research journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has found that outdoor activities are on the wane as people around the world spend more leisure time online or watching TV. They are concerned that this trend will not only lead to fatter unhealthier populations but also to more environmental destruction, as people lose interest in both nature and its protection.
Oliver Pergams, a biologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Patricia Zaradic of the Environmental Leadership program, Delaware Valley in Bryn Mawr, Penn., had previously reported a steady decline in per capita visits to US national parks since the late 1980s. This, they found, correlated strongly with a rise in video-game playing, internet surfing and movie watching.
In their new study they gathered and analysed survey data on various nature activities from the past 70 years, including the two decades since the national parks visits began to decline. They examined figures on backpacking, fishing, hiking, hunting, visits to national and state parks and forests. They found comparable statistics from Japan and to a lesser extent Spain. It appears that from 1981 to 1991, per capita nature recreation declined at rates from 1 percent to 1.3 percent per year, depending on the activity studied. Since then the typical drop in nature use has been 18-25 percent, they said.
According to the researchers, this shift to sedentary, electronic diversions has far-reaching consequences for physical and mental health, especially in children. Furthermore, the effect on the environment could be disastrous. Pergams said “We don't see how future generations, with less exploration of nature, will be as interested in conservation as past generations.”
Source: www.worldscience.net