- A new study revealed that humanity’s connection to nature has declined by around 60 percent since 1850 due to urbanization and industrialization.
- The study also warns of a continued “extinction of experience” for future generations.
- However, the bond can be restored—and it all starts with inspiring future generations.
Close your eyes and picture taking off your shoes and socks on a warm, spring day. As you stretch your toes in the cool grass, the sun kisses your cheek, the scent of blooming flowers is in the air, and you can hear the sounds of birdsong. It’s the perfect day outdoors, and according to a new study, you probably haven’t had one in a very long time.
In July, Miles Richardson, a professor at the University of Derby, published the findings of a new study in the journal Earth, which examines how our connection to nature has shifted since 1800.
Using a computer simulation program, he created a world populated by families and tracked how their relationship with nature changed as cities grew and green spaces disappeared. Think of it as a scientific version of The Sims that also projects our bond with nature through the year 2125. (You can check it out in action here.)
As cities have expanded over the past 200 years, Richardson found that humanity’s connection with nature has fallen sharply. He validated his findings by using the data-mining tool Google Books Ngram Viewer, to track the use of 28 common nature-related words used in books since the 1800s—think words like “river,” “trees,” and “blossom.” The data showed a notable decline in usage over time.
“These words reflect what people noticed, valued, and wrote about,” Richardson wrote in his findings. “And when their use is plotted over time, a clear decline of around 60 percent is revealed. Particularly from 1850, a time when industrialization and urbanization grew rapidly.”
Perhaps most astonishing of all, the data also indicates that we may be in an “extinction of experience” period, with future generations projected to lose even more of a connection to the outdoors.
“Nature connectedness is now accepted as a key root cause of the environmental crisis,” Richardson said in a statement obtained by Travel + Leisure. “It’s vitally important for our own mental health as well. It unites people and nature’s well-being. There’s a need for transformational change if we’re going to change society’s relationship with nature.”
However, Richardson explained, that change will require a monumental effort. And that begins with parents. His findings revealed that parents are essential to helping their children foster a meaningful connection with the environment.
What else would it take to restore our bond with nature? Richardson ran the future model to see how different fixes might play out, testing three possibilities along the way: giving people more access to green space (i.e. more parks trees in cities), encouraging them to pay closer attention when they are in the outdoors (putting your cellphone away on a hike), and boosting kids’ connection to the natural world early on. However, none of these factors worked on their own.
And even with these interventions turned all the way up, recovery will take time. Under the best of circumstances, Richardson found that significant change could happen around 2050, with a new generation of young people who could pass on a love for the natural world to their own children. He also notes that the goal is actually more attainable than it sounds.
“In the UK, people spend around 7 percent of their time outdoors—half of that in urban settings—and a median of only 4.5 minutes per day in green spaces,” he noted. “A tenfold increase would mean 35 percent of the day outdoors or just 45 minutes in nature-rich places—ambitious, but within reach.”
However, Richardson makes it a point to emphasize that our relationship with the planet truly lies in the hands of future generations—but that the change can start now.
“There’s already a lot of focus on connecting children with nature, but I prefer to say—don’t disconnect them,” he said in an April 2025 interview with The Guardian. “A newborn child is much the same as a child born in 1800. Children are fascinated by the natural world. It’s maintaining that through their childhood and schooling that’s essential, alongside urban greening.”
