Take into account that in the Middle Ages, or even earlier, people were also cutting and burning forests to get a land for fields. In my opinion, their deeds were less destructive only due to the fact that they were less in number and didn't have so well-developed technology as we do today. They didn't love nature more or wanted to protect it. To my mind it was lack of tools, nothing more. Nowadays, at least some of us are aware of our apparent harmful influence on the environment and try to do something to stop this deadly process.
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"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield"
Tennyson
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