Story highlights Researchers say wilderness is disappearing at an alarming rateScientists warn that time is running out to reverse the trend'We have a duty to act for our children' says one of the report's authors(CNN) A tenth of global wilderness has disappeared in a little over 20 years and if we don't act soon the rest will go too, scientists are warning. Researchers say a vast area -- some 3.3 million square kilometers (1.27 million square miles) -- has been lost since the early 1990s. The impact has been greatest in the Amazon and central Africa, they say. The study focused on comparing recent maps of wild areas free of significant human disturbance with ones produced in the same manner in the 1990s. A study by James Watson and fellow researchers at the University of Queensland and published in Current Biology shows the extent of wilderness loss since the early 1990s.

Source: CNN September 09, 2016 15:56 UTC