Gaia — Final Warning
During a recent episode of his show “Last Call” on CBC radio, David Suzuki
interviewed James Lovelock, a renowned British atmospheric science specialist,
biologist and author of the book The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning.
It could be said that, on the eve of his 90th birthday, James Lovelock is one of
the scientists in the world who best harmonizes analysis and intuition. At once
a scientist and a philosopher, he is also the inventor of the electron capture
detector, which allowed us, in the 1950s, to begin identifying minute doses of
man-made chemical substances. The detector enabled us, among other things, to
measure traces of CFCs in the atmosphere and to perceive the threat to the ozone
layer.
In his most recent book, Lovelock takes up the Gaia Theory once again and
proposes a scientific understanding of the earth as a living organism capable of
self-regulation. As an independent scientist, he demonstrates that the climate
change forecasts accepted by the international scientific community are still
quite a long way off when compared with measurable effects, which are
accelerating much more quickly than 2007 forecasts indicate. According to
Lovelock, the blind desire to perpetuate a lifestyle of consumption as if
nothing was wrong — despite the many warnings from researchers — exacerbates the
dangers threatening our own survival.
According to the author, we have already moved beyond the point of no return
regarding the impact of human activity on the environment. And if we must
drastically transform our way of life, we must also devote our energy to
adapting the best we can in order to survive the consequences of the climate
change we have set in motion.
“Gaia will survive,” he says. The question is whether the human race will
survive as well. Lovelock explains that, over the past few million years,
humanity has gone through significant episodes of depopulation, from which we
all then emerged today.
For the scientist, hope and the future reside in the ability of Gaia — Mother
Earth — to regenerate itself and in the ability of humanity to rediscover paths
that will enable us to evolve in harmony with others and the natural
environment.
