Gaia: A New Look at Life on EarthOxford University Press, 1987 - 157 The Gaia hypothesis, first put forth in the mid-1960s, and published in book form in 1975, has had a radical effect on scientific views of evolution and the environment. Fiercely debated by biologists, chemists, and cyberneticists, it has been the subject of numerous conferences and a BBC special which aired on public TV's "Nova" series. Green Peace and other environmental groups have embraced the theory, and Isaac Asimov incorporated it into two his science fiction novels. Now, James Lovelock provides a new preface to his his seminal work, confronting his critics, and, addressing the current advances in science and technology, demonstrates how his predictions have already begun to be fulfilled. According to the Gaia hypothesis, the environment does not coincidentally support life on earth; rather the two interact much the way a bird and its nest interact. "The Earth's living matter," writes Lovelock, "air, oceans, and land surface form a complex system which can be seen as a single organism and which has the capacity to keep our planet a fit place for life." This revolutionary book offers the clearest explanation of the interaction of life and the environment. |
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... carbon dioxide fixed by life as limestone and chalk would be returned as gas to the atmosphere . As explained in the previous chapter , carbon dioxide is a ' greenhouse ' gas . With small quantities its effect on the temp- erature of ...
... carbon dioxide fixed by life as limestone and chalk would be returned as gas to the atmosphere . As explained in the previous chapter , carbon dioxide is a ' greenhouse ' gas . With small quantities its effect on the temp- erature of ...
Strona 46
... carbon dioxide , the Earth might have been set on a course of irreversible cooling . Just as an excess of carbon dioxide leads to overheating , so its removal from the atmosphere could lead to runaway freezing . Ice and snow would cover ...
... carbon dioxide , the Earth might have been set on a course of irreversible cooling . Just as an excess of carbon dioxide leads to overheating , so its removal from the atmosphere could lead to runaway freezing . Ice and snow would cover ...
Strona 82
... carbon dioxide rose too rapidly for inorganic equilibrium forces to cope , the threat of overheating might become serious . Fortunately , this green- house gas interacts strongly with the biosphere . Not only is carbon dioxide the ...
... carbon dioxide rose too rapidly for inorganic equilibrium forces to cope , the threat of overheating might become serious . Fortunately , this green- house gas interacts strongly with the biosphere . Not only is carbon dioxide the ...
Spis treści
Introductory | 1 |
In the beginning | 13 |
The recognition of Gaia | 33 |
Prawa autorskie | |
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