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REGIONAL VARIATIONS HIGHLIGHT POPULATION'S ROLE IN STRESSING LAND The study shows that by 2022 about 43 per cent of the Earth’s land remained minimally modified but 27 per cent had low,
20 per cent moderate and 10 per cent high levels of modifications. This means that around 31 million square kilometres of land, nearly a quarter of Earth’s land area have been significantly
altered since 1990. The main drivers of these changes was agriculture, which alone accounted for nearly 47 per cent of all modified land. Other major contributions were transportation
infrastructure (roads, railways and power lines), human accessibility and urban development. Additionally, there are regional variations when it comes to adverse transformation of land
assets. The lands in the Indomalayan region (which includes parts of South and Southeast Asia) showed the highest level of human modification, due to dense populations, intense farming and
urban expansion. In contrast, Australasia (Australia and nearby islands) underwent lowest transformation. The study also found that modification levels are increasing steadily, with the
global human modifications score rising by about 57 per cent per year since 1990. The most rapid increases were seen in built up areas where cities and towns expanded by over four per cent
each year. The researchers also pointed out that about 29 per cent of countries and 31 per cent of ecosystems are especially vulnerable. These places where human pressure has increased
faster than average and where less than 30 per cent of the land is under any kind of protection. On an average, nearly three different human threats are present in each area affected,
meaning that conservation efforts will need to deal with multiple overlapping pressures not just one.