Climate Change, Predicted (Three Decades Ago)

Returning to an environmental classic: ‘The Ages of Gaia’ by James Lovelock

The Gaia hypothesis was developed by scientist James Lovelock and microbiologist Lynn Margulis in the 1970s. It proposes that living organisms and the nonliving features of their environment are in constant interaction, by which a consistent environment that can support life is attained. Lovelock developed the idea in his book The Ages of Gaia: A Biography of Our Living Earth. First published in 1988, it was updated and revised in 1995. “Gaia” is his mythologically inspired name for Planet Earth.

People who understand evolution know that, over generations, plant and animal species adapt to their environment. Those fit to survive in a particular ecosystem can pass on their genes.

What might be a little less obvious is that plants and animals also change the very same environment that makes it possible for them to live. By breathing, eating, and excreting, they change the air, soil, and water around them. The ecosystem is always changing slightly, but it tends to be self-regulating because of the organisms that participate in it.

Daisyworld

To illustrate this, Lovelock together with the marine and atmospheric scientist Andrew Watson introduced their “Daisyworld” simulation in a famous 1983 paper. Imagine white daisies that reflect sunlight (thereby cooling the Earth) and black daisies that absorb…