Review by Loyd Eskildson

Gaia Theory claims that the Earth, and all its inhabitants, makes up a living, self-regulating super-organism which is lurching closer to a permanent "hot state," much more quickly than most specialists think. To survive, man must abandon the incremental approach in the Kyoto Protocol in favor of nuclear energy and aggressive agricultural development in the small areas of the earth remaining arable. Only the fittest, and smartest, will survive. Critics wonder how natural selection operating on individual organisms can lead to the evolution of planetary-scale homeostasis.

The root cause of our global warming problem, says Lovelock, is too many people and their livestock and pets - more than the Earth can carry. Lovelock believes that the consensus of scientists on levels of CO2 reduction required for survival are too optimistic - that 60% reductions will be required - something quite difficult since breathing by existing people and their animals are responsible for 23% of the CO2 released, rising to about 50% if one adds the CO2 produced by growing, transporting, and heating food to that amount. Part of the solution is to become vegetarians and have no pets.

Melting ice (eg. at the poles) takes 81 times as much heat as to raise water 1 degree F - thus, the melting ice caps now are buffering temperature change for our benefit. This will cease when they are fully melted. Ice also reflects 80% of sunlight.

Lovelock's education is in medicine, though he has worked for NASA and been involved in the global warming debate for some time. His book does not offer scientific evidence to support the assertions; yet, Lovelock has a fair amount of standing in the scientific community.

The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning (Basic Books/ Apr 2009) by James Lovelock

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