Environment in crisis: 'We are past the point of no return'

[Briar]

Environment in crisis: 'We are past the point of no return'


Thirty years ago, the scientist James Lovelock worked out that the Earth possessed a planetary-scale control system which kept the environment fit for life. He called it Gaia, and the theory has become widely accepted. Now, he believes mankind's abuse of the environment is making that mechanism work against us. His astonishing conclusion - that climate change is already insoluble, and life on Earth will never be the same again.

By Michael McCarthy Environment Editor

The world has already passed the point of no return for climate change, and civilisation as we know it is now unlikely to survive, according to James Lovelock, the scientist and green guru who conceived the idea of Gaia - the Earth which keeps itself fit for life.

In a profoundly pessimistic new assessment, published in today's Independent, Professor Lovelock suggests that efforts to counter global warming cannot succeed, and that, in effect, it is already too late.

The world and human society face disaster to a worse extent, and on a faster timescale, than almost anybody realises, he believes. He writes: " Before this century is over, billions of us will die, and the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable."

...

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article338878.ece

[Briar]

1. Lovelock's article

can be found here:

http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article338830.ece

Unfortunately he cites evolution, which I fear will mean both his article and his new book will be black-listed in the doctrinally-hysterical US!


"My new book The Revenge of Gaia expands these thoughts, but you still may ask why science took so long to recognise the true nature of the Earth. I think it is because Darwin's vision was so good and clear that it has taken until now to digest it. In his time, little was known about the chemistry of the atmosphere and oceans, and there would have been little reason for him to wonder if organisms changed their environment as well as adapting to it.

"Had it been known then that life and the environment are closely coupled, Darwin would have seen that evolution involved not just the organisms, but the whole planetary surface. We might then have looked upon the Earth as if it were alive, and known that we cannot pollute the air or use the Earth's skin - its forest and ocean ecosystems - as a mere source of products to feed ourselves and furnish our homes. We would have felt instinctively that those ecosystems must be left untouched because they were part of the living Earth."


'The Revenge of Gaia' is published by Penguin on 2 February

[4dsc]

2. Wasn't 2005 the warmest on record??

Or something like that??

I would agree that "we are past the point of no return" and nothing but disasters will change the view of the sheeple..

[Briar]

3. Oh, I am sure the media and establishment

will find some way of spinning the disaster to make it seem more trivial than the latest celebrity news, which will doubtless occupy them instead.

[hatrack]

4. Looks that way - they're still finalizing the data, though

It seems likely, however.

[Amonester]

5. Hard to imagine worst 'cane seasons than 2005's.

How will 2006's be like? 2007's? 2010's? 2020's?

How many other Katrinas to come? :cry:

[Porcupine]

7. "We can lose a city a year" I forgot where that came from...

but as a hurricane impact scenario it is not impossible.

[barb162]

6. I believe this and what I find so irrational about humans

is we still keep breeding like crazy. You mention overpopulation these days and you get called a racist. But you know what? We cannot sustain these growing populations because of natural resource scarcity, droughts, climate change, etc. It's insane.