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  • From: Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] James Lovelock and Gaia theory
  • Date: Mon, 5 Aug 2024 19:39:41 -0700

“Life does more than adapt to the Earth. It changes the Earth to its own purposes.”
  • James Lovelock
July 26, 1919, birthday of James Lovelock.
In 1965 James Lovelock, inspired by research on the possible habitability of Mars, proposed in a article to see the single parts of Earth (lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and atmosphere) not as distinct spheres, but as an interconnected and self-regulating system almost like a single living being. He followed the suggestions by novelist William Golding and called this idea the Gaia-hypothesis after the ancient mythological titan/personification of Earth Gaia.
Even if the original idea was criticized for some scientific and philosophical inaccuracies (Lovelock used some biased calculations to show how life is needed to keep a planetary climate stable and also implied a "higher purpose and goal" for Earth to reach) the basics to study Earth as a complex and dynamic system survive to this day as Earth System Sciences.

image.png

a comment:
" I believe that it's been determined that life is needed to keep a climate system stable. The whole reason we have oxygen in the atmosphere is because 
of photosynthesizing plants. Originally stromatolites transformed the atmosphere over millions of years. We are currently changing the atmosphere through carbon emissions."


--
Lawrence F. London, Jr.
lfljvenaura@gmail.com






  • [permaculture] James Lovelock and Gaia theory, Lawrence London, 08/05/2024

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