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Connection with nature sees dramatic decline over the last two centuries

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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Over the past 220 years, the connection between people and nature has declined by more than 60%. That's the key finding of a study led by Miles Richardson, a professor of nature connectedness at the University of Derby in England.

Losing touch with nature is increasingly recognized as a contributing factor to the environmental crisis the planet is facing today. When people feel disconnected from the , they are less likely to protect it.

Strangers to the natural world

To reach their conclusion, Richardson and colleagues developed a novel computer model using on urban growth. This model helped them understand how urbanization, engagement with nature and beliefs and habits passed down from parents to children have shaped our connectedness to nature over time.

"Intergenerational transmission emerged as the overwhelmingly dominant driver of historical decline from 1800 to 2020, with the lifetime extinction of experience mechanism providing a statistically distinct, yet marginal refinement to model fit," wrote Professor Richardson.

This research, in the journal Earth, also noted the decreasing frequency of nature words such as "river," "blossom," and "moss" over the last two centuries. In other words, the language we use reflects a growing disengagement with the natural world.

Study finds a dramatic decline in our connection with nature over the last two centuries
Intergenerational transmission and local nature shapes child nature connectedness. Credit: Earth (2025). DOI: 10.3390/earth6030082

Continued decline

The study suggests our bond with nature will continue to weaken. The modeling predicts an "extinction of experience" where lose their connection with the natural environment because of built-up neighborhoods and parents not passing on an appreciation for nature. Even major initiatives to add and encourage people to spend more time outdoors won't reverse the trend.

Richardson also highlighted the scale of interventions needed to make a difference. For example, cities would have to become ten times greener than they are today to reverse the decline in nature connectedness.

According to the research, one of the most effective ways to improve our relationship with nature is to focus on instilling awareness and engagement in families and , such as through forest nurseries. These are hands-on nature-based outdoor learning programs.

The decline is not irreversible.

But the picture the study paints is not all doom and gloom. The team's computer model also predicts a self-sustaining recovery after the year 2050 if significant and ambitious interventions are put in place.

There's other good news, too. Although the team found that nature words in books declined by 60.6% between 1800 and 2020, hitting their lowest point in 1990, the percentage today is considerably better at 52.4%.

Written for you by our author , edited by , and fact-checked and reviewed by —this article is the result of careful human work. We rely on readers like you to keep independent science journalism alive. If this reporting matters to you, please consider a (especially monthly). You'll get an ad-free account as a thank-you.

More information: Miles Richardson, Modelling Nature Connectedness Within Environmental Systems: Human-Nature Relationships from 1800 to 2020 and Beyond, Earth (2025).

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Citation: Connection with nature sees dramatic decline over the last two centuries (2025, August 12) retrieved 12 August 2025 from /news/2025-08-nature-decline-centuries.html
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