Human births have been exceeding deaths for over 50 years. Earth is sustaining unprecedented human population growth.
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| Human Population Growth |
"A friend of mine once sent me a post card with a picture of the entire planet Earth taken from space. On the back it said, 'Wish you were here."
― Steven Wright
During the same half century, there has been a corresponding growth in nationally protected areas around the earth. There are more than 120,000 protected areas. The protected areas cover about 5,187,000,000 acres of land and sea (as of 2008).
| Acres |
| Globally Protected Land & Sea | 5,187,000,000 |
| Area of Canada | 2,467,265,689 |
| Area of United States | 2,379,964,800 |
| Area of Australia | 1,882,431,500 |
| |
Over the past half-century the cumulative total terrestrial area protected has steadily increased (yellow line below). In the past several decades, the cumulative total marine area protected has begun to increase (red line below).
"Since 1872 we've take a once radical idea—preserving nature—and scaled it up globally with amazing speed."
― Julia Whitty, Mother Jones Environmental Correspondent
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| Growth in Protected Areas
(1872-2008) |
"Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first."
― Mark Twain
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