James Lovelock's latest book
Yesterday I travelled into rural Devon to meet with James Lovelock, the renowned author and scientist. James is the originator of the Gaia hypothesis, which proposes that the biosphere and the physical components of the Earth (atmosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere) are closely integrated to form a complex interacting system that maintains the climatic and biogeochemical conditions on Earth in a preferred homeostasis.
James has written much about climate change and his latest book, “The Vanishing Face of Gaia“, puts forward a very different agenda for the world than that being discussed globally today. Whilst he recognises the importance of efforts to reduce emissions, his view is that the earth is about ready to jump to a new much hotter homeostatis with a transition that will be rapid and extraordinarily damaging to us.
I must confess that whilst I had heard and read much about James in the press, I had never taken the time to read one of his books. I did so with “Vanishing” before visiting Devon and found it to be a fascinating insight into the possible reaction of the earth to our CO2 onslaught, although it does tend to leave the reader feeling a bit helpless and hopeless.
Whilst many may disagree with the views of Lovelock, they are not to be simply dismissed either. This is a man with an immense science background dotted with very significant contributions to fields such as atmospheric chemistry. But best you hear it from James himself in the short interview below. Finally, my sincere thanks to James and his wife Sandy for meeting with me and James Smith, Chairman of Shell UK.
Thanks
I was recommended to read the book by a friend.He did’nt say much of what it was about at the time but we were having a conversation regarding sustainability. While i am convinced by James Lovelocks wonderful arguments which i believe make sence. Its an extremely difficult subject to raise and be taken seriousely by many people and difficult to spread to others. The thousands of silent scientist afraid to speak because of their affiliations to business must privatley stuggle with their findings and their computer models. Governments i suppose would wish to avoid rocking the boat and will never tell the masses the real truth. Surely the U.S is preparing in secret, what it will do when the heating becomes too much.
As a person of 28 years of age i begin to think of my future and that of children i may have. I think its business as usual for a long as possible. For most people its just not possible to accept that we, the 6.8 billion living are simply to numerous and if we wont regulate ourselves Giai will have to do it for us. Perhaps Jim should write another book ” Preparing for Giai fury” and open the public debate on ways to co-ordinate individuals and prevent the inevitable wars, famine and thirst from ruining those areas that will be habitable.
[…] of captivating content to include a video interview with high profile environmental authors such as James Lovelock — author of The Vanishing Face of Gaia, a video interview of Dr. James Reilly of the […]
[…] Lovelock is now 97 years old and when he dies we can expect a flood of adulatory obituaries both from the industrial capitalist establishment and from those defenders of the living planet who never saw through his sly ideological scam. There will probably be a special pull-out supplement in The Observer, sponsored by Shell. […]