Interesting Times: Gaia and James Lovelock

You may not have ever heard of him but one of the greatest scientists of our time is a man named James Lovelock. For students I have taught you may find it interesting to know that he developed the electron capture detector. I am going to focus on him today, because he is in my mind for reasons which will become clear shortly. There is another scientist associated with these ideas who also is worth writing an entry about but her work will have to wait for another day. (See if you can guess her name)

James Lovelock is a very profound thinker and was the first one to really notice that the biosphere regulates the global environment making it more hospitable for life. The concept as a whole was originally called the Gaia hypothesis. A lot of evidence has been collected supporting the idea. One way to put (this is his approach not mine) the idea in perspective is to contrast it to the idea of evolution. Evolution, though still subject to much controversy, in its classis sense says that life forms evolve under the pressure of external selection. Life forms that are well matched to their surroundings survive. Those who are less able to thrive in their environment do less well and, of course things that are hopelessly ill-adapted die. That is a simple minded way of putting evolution.

Gaia in short is about the idea of life altering its surroundings to create a hospitable environment for life to continue. The general idea is not so radical in the sense that people build houses to make life more pleasant. What is radical is the scale of the idea. I think most people would be comfortable with the idea on a local scale (houses) but might find the idea on a global scale more difficult to grasp.

Essentially, through a series of quite complex feedback loops, the biosphere has regulated global climate. The problem is that the evidence, at least to the eye of James Lovelock and others, suggests the global regulatory mechanisms are about to go out of control. This is why Lovelock is on my mind. He recently wrote an article appearing in the Independent which you can find here:

http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article338830.ece

There are some supporting articles. All are worth reading.

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article338879.ece
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article338878.ece

Worth thinking about and one hopes he is wrong. In case you think this is just another overly shrill environmentalist, consider that Lovelock made a very strong argument for the use of nuclear power since it was to his mind the only mechanism by which carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere could be brought under control. Greenpeace did not like that idea very much. I have to say I don't like the idea very much... but that does not mean he is not correct.

What he has to say is worth thinking carefully about. It is a pity that he is now 86 years old otherwise he might be an excellent target for young students looking for a challenging mentor in graduate school.

Happy New Year

It has been a while since I last updated. This has been due to a move to the UK and a new university. I have been quite busy and not been sure what to say since it is a move to a new environment. Please check back now and then to look for updates. Hopefully when I have a free moment I will add something.