One wouldn’t think spending free time online would get Al Gore and the Green Police on your case, but an article in Wired suggests otherwise.

As people spend more time with their TVs and computers, the article says, the impact is not just on their health, but on the planet.

Less time spent outdoors means less contact with nature and, eventually, declining concern for environmental conservation and parks.

If people are less interested in preserving the planet’s wild and scenic places, efforts to protect them from development invariably suffer.

“Declining nature participation has implications for current conservation efforts,” wrote co-authors Oliver R. W. Pergams and Patricia A. Zaradic of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“We think it probable than any major decline in the value placed on natural areas and experiences will greatly reduce the value placed on the protection of the environment and biodiversity conservation.”

Rafting on the Colorado River through Arizona’s Grand Canyon.The decline in outdoor activity, found in both the United States and Japan, appears to have begun in the 1980s and 1990s. Some facts:

• Fishing peaked in 1981 but declined 25 percent by 2005
• Visits to U.S. National Parks peaked in 1987 but has since dropped 23 percent by 2006
• Hiking on the Appalachian Trial peaked in 2000 and was down 18 percent by 2005

All while the population has grown rapidly.

“The replacement of vigorous outdoor activities by sedentary, indoor videophilia has far-reaching consequences for physical and mental health, especially in children,” Pergams said.

“… videophilia has been shown to cause obesity, lack of socialization, attention disorders and poor academic performance.”

While concern over climate change has increased in recent years, maybe we could help protect the planet by simply going outside. So visit a state or national park this weekend, then read about the primaries online!