Interpretation of the Gaia World
In the context of the Earth’s impact on health,many authors includingJames Lovelock have introduced the concept of Gaia.
Gaia is the living Earth and many scientists and others claim that Gaia corrects mistakes made by man or natural phenomena.Write an essay on your interpretation of the Gaia world of self-correction as put forward by somescientists.This can be an essay discussing Lovelock’s views,or other aspects of why life is resilient and adaptable on our planet.
Nisbett’s chapter intheTreatise on Geochemistrywhich I adapted for the lectures on Biogeochemistry and the evolution of life, redox etcon Earth may be a typical source of inspiration. You could also lookat different geological events around the worldand how life adapts after major catastrophic situations.You have to think abouttime scales(not 10s of years eg a human life span; but 10’s of thousands or millions ofyears). How would you considerclimate change or global warmingin this contextand how might Gaiaadapt.Remember the Earth has been naturally very rich in green house gases in the past and been very warm and very coldat times.
In any event, please try to put a spin (no pun intended) to the essay based on health and the earth.Guidelines1.7-10 pages2.Double spaced lines(usually 200 to 250 words per page)3.Possibility of having 1-2 diagrams4.Due onOctober 8th,2020Possible ReferencesJames Lovelock Gaia:
A new look at life on earthJames Lovelock Gaia, the practical science of planetary medicineCamelford conference Gaia, the thesis, the mechanisms and the implicationsLovelock, J. The living Earth. Nature 426 (6968): 769-770, December 18, 2003.Lovelock, J. A geophysiologists thoughts on the natural sulphur cycle.PHILOS T ROY SOC B 352 (1350): 143-147, February 28, 1997.Treatise on Geochemistry https://www.sciencedirect.com/referencework/9780080437514/treatise-on-geochemistry
