We’re in an ‘Extinction of Experience’ and Have Lost 60% of Our Connection to Nature—Here’s How a Vacation Can Fix It

Close your eyes and picture taking off your shoes and socks on a warm, spring day. As you drag your toes into the cool grass, the sun kisses your cheek, the scent of blooming flowers is in the air, and you can hear the birds chirping. It’s the best day outside, and according to a new study, you probably haven’t had one in a long time.

In July, Professor Miles Richardson of the University of Derby published the results of a new study in the journal The landwhich examines how our relationship with nature has changed since 1800.

Using a computer simulation program, he created a world inhabited by families and tracked how their relationship with nature changed as cities grew and green spaces disappeared. Think of it as the scientific version of this The Sims It also presents our bond with nature during the year 2125. (You can see it in action here.)

As cities have expanded over the past 200 years, Richardson found that humanity’s connection to nature has declined rapidly. They validated their findings by using the data mining tool Google Books Engram Viewer, to track the usage of 28 common lexical words used in books since the 1800s. The data showed a significant decrease in use over time.

“These words are seen, valued, and written about,” Richardson wrote in his findings. “And when their consumption is plotted over time, a clear decline of about 60 percent is revealed. Especially since 1850, when industrialization and urbanization rapidly increased.”

Perhaps most strikingly, the data also indicate that we may be in a period of “experiential extinction,” with future generations likely to lose even more connection to the outdoors.

“Detachment from nature is now widely accepted as a major root cause of the environmental crisis,” Richardson said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press. Travel + Leisure. “It’s also extremely important for our own mental health. It unites the well-being of people and nature. If we’re going to change society’s relationship with nature, transformational change is needed.”

However, Richardson explained, this change would require a monumental effort. And it starts with the parents. The findings suggest that parents are important in helping their children develop a meaningful relationship with the environment.

What else will it take to restore our relationship with nature? Richardson ran a future model to see how different reforms might play out, testing three possibilities along the way: giving people more access to green space (ie, more trees in parks in cities), encouraging them to pay closer attention when they’re outdoors (putting their cell phones away from hikes), and increasing children’s early connection to the natural world. However, none of these factors acted alone.

And even with these interventions, full recovery will take time. In the best-case scenario, Richardson found, a significant change could occur around 2050, with a new generation of young adults instilling their children’s love of the natural world. He also notes that the goal is actually more attainable than it sounds.

“In the UK, people spend 7% of their time outdoors, half of that in urban settings and an average of just 4.5 minutes per day in green spaces,” he noted. “A tenfold increase means spending 35 percent of the day outside or in nature-rich places just 45 minutes away—inconvenient, but within reach.”

However, Richardson makes it a point to emphasize that our relationship with the planet is indeed in the hands of future generations – but that change can start now.

“There’s already a lot of focus on connecting kids to nature, but don’t cut them off,” he said in an interview with April 2025. Guardian. “A newborn child is the same as a child born in 1800. Children are fascinated by the natural world. It remains to be seen that urban green is important as well as their childhood and schooling.”