Renowned British environmental scientist, James Lovelock, made famous by his ‘Gaia hypothesis’ of the late 1970s, is again rattling the geo-political cage. His hypothesis then suggested that the earth is a ’super-organism’ where life on Earth contributes to the maintenance of a balance, which keeps the temperature, the weather and the balance of atmospheric gases suitable for the long-term sustaining of life. While environmentalists have embraced this theory since, scientists including Richard Dawkins and Ford Doolittle have presented contrary arguments.
However, Lovelock has recently released a new view on this hypothesis in his latest book, “The Revenge of Gaia” where he suggests that society has gone too far in its exploitation of natural resources, and that the negative feedback mechanisms of the 1970’s Gaia have been stressed beyond their ability to cope.
He suggests that we are now in a system of positive feedback: carbon dioxide in the atmosphere promotes warming; warming promotes the melting of polar ice and the release of the methane and carbon dioxide locked therein, creating more warming, and that …the Earth is about to catch a morbid fever that will last 100,000 years.” Late 20th century ’smoke’ pollution, including CFC’s, had the effect of reflecting solar energy back into space; as we reduce these pollutants, our environment will actually become hotter.
Lovelock is a supporter of nuclear power as an alternative to fossil fuels, arguing “…I am a Green, and I entreat my friends in the movement to drop their wrongheaded objection to nuclear energy.”
There is one enormous caveat to bear in mind when considering Lovelock’s position - is it possible to make a single hypothesis about a system as complex as Earth?
Comments
Trackbacks