Untouched wilderness will cut wildlife extinction in half

A new study out today shows that untouched wilderness will cut the world’s wildlife extinction rate in half. In a world where we’re losing hundreds of species daily, this is significant. It’s also significant for industrial companies who argue that there are environmentally-sensitive ways to conduct their business – from building pipelines, to mining and logging, among others. This new study shows that the only real way to reduce species extinction is to leave wilderness untouched. The fact is that industrial activity, even where reclamation might be practiced, necessitates roads, vehicles, power generators, and other infrastructure. And for a wilderness area to truly bounce back from such a disturbance takes many decades – if it’s even possible. For the more sensitive species, it isn’t. The fact is that we don’t have many decades to reduce humanity’s impact on the planet. Our current rate of extinction has never been seen before in the history of humanity. We have reached that tipping point where we either turn back now, or do truly irreversible damage.