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James Lovelock

Discussion in 'Environmental Discussion' started by TimBikes, Dec 5, 2006.

  1. TimBikes

    TimBikes New Member

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    Interesting...

    "What makes global warming so serious and so urgent is that the great Earth system, Gaia, is trapped in a vicious circle of positive feedback. Extra heat from any source, whether from greenhouse gases, the disappearance of Arctic ice or the Amazon forest, is amplified, and its effects are more than additive. It is almost as if we had lit a fire to keep warm, and failed to notice, as we piled on fuel, that the fire was out of control and the furniture had ignited. When that happens, little time is left to put out the fire before it consumes the house. Global warming, like a fire, is accelerating and almost no time is left to act.

    So what should we do? We can just continue to enjoy a warmer 21st century while it lasts, and make cosmetic attempts, such as the Kyoto Treaty...

    ...nuclear energy from its start in 1952 has proved to be the safest of all energy sources. We must stop fretting over the minute statistical risks of cancer from chemicals or radiation. Nearly one third of us will die of cancer anyway, mainly because we breathe air laden with that all pervasive carcinogen, oxygen...
     
    #1 TimBikes, Dec 5, 2006
  2. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Depending on where you get your information and who you choose to listen to most closely; IE, James Hansen, James lovelock, George Bush etc etc. will determine how you view our future. I've read "The Revenge of Gaia" and while there are some things in there I might not feel strongly about it could just be I don't know enough yet. Otherwise I found the book very interesting in its earnest intent to get us off fossil fuels NOW because we are already stuck with problems centered around global climate warming for decades to come. I tried to not look into the doom and gloom too much and I saw the book more as a slap in the face and a call to action and even a bit of "I told you so".

    While some may be imediately turned off by his connection and use of the Gaia theory, I will say that more and more scientific paradigm is now bending in that direction. Not that the earth is alive truely but more metaphorically speaking and how all systems are nested within other systems and thus have a connection to one another. Less cartisian mechanistic and more ecological or holistic.
     
    #2 F8L, Dec 8, 2006
  3. TimBikes

    TimBikes New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(F8L @ Dec 7 2006, 11:52 PM) [snapback]359194[/snapback]</div>
    Right - I view the earth in the more figurative sense rather than literal, with regard to Gaia.
     
    #3 TimBikes, Dec 8, 2006
  4. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TimBikes @ Dec 8 2006, 01:04 AM) [snapback]359204[/snapback]</div>
    Thats how I see it as well and after reading J. Lovelock's latest book I feel that is how he means to imply Gaia. Not as a truely living entity but simply as a self-regulating system.

    As for his urgency for nuclear power, I think he makes a lot of sense. If some of the predictions for climate change (those based on the business-as-usual scenario) are correct then it would seem like the best possible solution until we can perfect the technologies available currently. Unfortunately i feel its all for naught if we continue with our current levels of consumption and population growth. Until we can gain our energy from fusion and replicate our food from readily available synthetic sources then anything short of that might not really matter. lol
     
    #4 F8L, Dec 8, 2006
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