JAMES LOVELOCK / f I < *\* W \ i 'k The Practical Science of Planetary Medicine BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARV Copley Square MA 021 16 Boston » • . I GAIA The Practical Science of Planetary Medicine GAIA The Practical Science of Planetary Medicine James Lovelock OXTORD UNIVERSIl V PR] ss OXFORD To UNIVERSITY PRESS my beloved wife Oxford NewYork Sandy Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota BuenosAires Calcutta CapeTown Chennai DaresSalaam Delhi Florence HongKong Istanbul Karachi KualaLumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Mumbai Nairobi Paris SaoPaulo Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw andassociatedcompaniesin Berlin Ibadan Copyright © 1991, 2000byGaia BooksLimited Text copyright © 1991, 2000JamesLovelock TherightofJamesLovelocktobeidentifiedastheauthorofthisworkhasbeenasserted inaccordancewithSections77and78oftheCopyright.DesignsandPatentsAct, 1988, UnitedKingdom. FirstpublishedintheUnitedKingdomin 1991 by GaiaBooksLimited 66CharlotteStreet London,W1P1LR and 20HighStreet Stroud.GlosGL5 1AZ FirstpublishedintheUnitedStatesbyHarmonyBooks,adivisionofCrownPublishers,Inc., 201 East50thStreet,NewYork,NY10022.MemberoftheCrownPublishingGroup FirstpublishedinpaperbackintheUnitedStatesin2000 byOxfordUniversityPress,Inc. 198MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NewYork 10016 OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced, storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans, electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,orotherwise, withoutthepriorpermissionofOxfordUniversityPress. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationDataisavailable Lovelock.J.E. [HealingGaia] Gaia:thepracticalscienceofplanetarymedicine/JamesLovelock. p. cm. FirstAmericaned.publishedundertitle:HealingGaia.NewYork:HarmonyBooks.©1991. Includesbibliographicalreferences ISBN0-19-521674-1 — 1.Geobiology Philosophy. 2.Gaiahypothesis. 3.Biosphere. 4.Environmentalprotection. 5.Natureconservation. I.Title. QH343.4.L69 2000 Frontispiece:Chalkcliffs,liketheseinDorset, 508.01—dc21 00-037497 aretypicalalongthesoutherncoastofBritain. Similardepositsoflimestone,calcium carbonate,occurinmanypartsoftheworld. TheyrepresentGaia'sassiduousworkinthe burialofcarbon, beingmadeupofthefossils ofbillionsofmicroscopicmarineorganisms. Thesehadusedcalciumcarbonateinthe constructionoftheirshells. 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 PrintedinSingapore onacid-freepaper Contents Author's preface 6 Introduction 9 CHAPTER ONE Recognizing Gaia 21 CHAPTER TWO Anatomy 35 CHAPTER THREE Physiology 57 CHAPTER FOUR Epigenesis 73 CHAPTER FIVE Biochemistry and the cell 89 CHAPTER SIX Metabolism and planetary biochemistry 107 CHAPTER SEVEN Physiology and climate regulation 133 CHAPTER EIGHT The people plague 153 Conclusion 173 Glossary 187 Index 190 Bibliography 192 Acknowledgements 192 Preface to the new edition This book explores the Earth through the eyes of an imaginary planetary physi- cian. I like to think ofthisphysicianas one who made house calls; someone living before the days of antibiotics and molecularbiology; someone skilled at diagnosis, who could bring comfort, and could sometimes heal by guiding the process by which nature took its course. The concept of planetary medicine implies the existence of a planetary body that is in some way alive, and can experience both health and disease. When this book was first published in 1991 the concept of a living planet, and Gaia theory from which it comes, was hotly disputed by many biologists who saw life as the singular property of living organisms and the genes they express. Feelings were strong andboth Gaia as a theory, and Lynn Margulis and I as its proponents, were publicly discredited by a small but vociferous group of biologists and science writers. They attacked from the high ground of established science and, as in Science, 19th April 1991, denounced Gaia theory as: "unscientific", "dangerous", "pure fantasy". Most of all, they balked at the Earth being described as alive. Now it is different and the last ten years have seen the widespread acceptance of what I like to think of as Gaian science and although the name Gaia is rarely used, scientists now talk freely of "Earth System Science". They recognize that a view of the Earth from the separated disciplines of biology, geology, and geophysics is not enough. But as you read this book, keep in mind that Gaia is as yet unproven, and use it and the concept of planetary medicine as a way of seeing the Earth's problems differently. Ittakes a lot ofmisunderstandingto upset a sensible scientist, therefore I accept that in the past Lynn Margulis and I were provocative and that I now need to make clear what we mean by "life". In this book I often describe the planetary ecosystem, Gaia, as alive, because it behaves like a living organism to the extent that temperature and chemical composition are actively kept constant in the face of perturbations. When I do I am well aware that the term itself is metaphorical and that the Earth is not alive in the same way as you orme, or even a bacterium. At the same time I insist that Gaia theory itself is proper science and no mere metaphor. My use of the term "alive" is like that of an engineer who calls a mechanical system alive to distinguish its behaviour when switched on from that when switched off, or dead. Engines on whose proper function many lives PREFACE depend have health monitors; devices that ensure signs of failure are detected early enough for a cure, not a tragedy. Should I, or you, be worried by these strictures from other scientists, some of whom are distinguished professors at famous universities? No, I don't think so. They were said in the heat of an argument now resoloved. Gaia is after all just another way of looking at the mysteries of the Earth. Why should otherwise sensible scientists have lost their normal imperturba- bility over Gaia? I think it was a consequence of the long and exhausting war between biologists and creationists. In the heat of this battle scientists uncharac- teristically became dogmatic and arrogant. I am an old-fashioned scientist who believes, as Freeman Dysonput itin hisbookInfiniteinallDirections, that the ethic of science is based on a fundamental open-mindedness, a willingness to subject every theory to analytical scrutiny and experimental test. The Royal Society of London in 1660 proudly took as its motto the phrase "Nullius in verba" meaning "No man's word shall be final". There is no place for infallibility in science. I was also brought up to believe that science was serious but not sacrosanct and that creative science required a sense of wonder and a sense of humour. Gaia theory may be wholly or partially in error. To a real scientist this is not as important as how well the theory fits these criteria: Is it useful? Does it suggest interesting experiments? Does it explain the puzzling data we have gathered? What are its predictions? Does it have a mathematical basis? Gaia gives positive answers to allthese questions andnow receives consideration from scientists who ten years ago regarded it with contumely. Creative science is the province of working scientists, and few of these are found among our remaining critics. Those who still condemn Gaia as unscientific are, for the most part, science writers and professional science critics. Creative scientists are inspired by ideas that are often difficult to explain in words, but that nevertheless suggest experiments. The formal explanation almost always comes after the inspiration and the experiments. This is something that science writers and critics rarely wish to know, for it would make the telling of the stories so much more difficult. This is not a contentious or argumentative book. It is not about whether Gaia theory is right or wrong but about using Gaia as a way to look at the Earth diffei - ently. I invite you tojoinwith me and explore ourplanet with an imaginary plan- etary physician as your guide, someone who regards geophysiology the systems science of the Earth, as the proper basis of his empiricism. I \\u s I I mi i OCK $ OwwZb Dowefiide. • ~ > ** •w / J*^"*"^