Gaia Theory

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James Lovelock

February 2003

Timely theory

The acceptance of Gaia Theory by science is timely because we are now seriously changing the environment and the consequences predicted by the International Panel on Climate Change are serious. If we are to reverse these changes we need to understand Earth fully.

To give just one example of how whole system thinking changes our view, consider biodiversity. There is evidence that we are in the midst of a great extinction of our own making, but Gaia Theory suggests that biodiversity is not necessarily a measure of fitness. It can be a symptom of the perturbation of an ecosystem during a state of comparative health. What seems important for sustenance is not so much biodiversity as such, but potential biodiversity, the capacity of a healthy system to respond through diversification when the need arises. Rare species make forest and other ecosystems biodiverse and some of these rarities will flourish and sustain the ecosystem when the next large environmental change takes place.

Biodiversity is like insurance, not needed now, but required when disaster strikes. The loss of biodiversity seldom occurs alone, it's part of the destructive process of converting natural ecosystems to farmland. We have to keep in mind that any destruction of natural habitats weakens Earth's capacity to sustain a habitable world. As well as scientific understanding, we need a feeling for Earth as a living entity. Only then will we grasp that we cannot farm the whole planet to feed the growing population. If we try to do this we will disable Gaia, which has kept conditions favourable for life for four billion years

Civilization depends upon a proper recognition of human rights but the time has come to see that to care for human rights alone is not enough. We share our planet with all of the burgeoning forms of life and together with them we are a giant community that is the responsive part of the Earth system. If we want to sustain our civilisation we need to take care of Earth as much as we do humanity. There is no future for any of us on a dead planet.

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