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GAIA: The Earth System - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

GAIA: The Earth System

The gaia hypothesis: earth is a self-regulating system ... gaia': the biota optimize climate. for their own benefit (not part of lovelock's definition of gaia) ... – powerpoint ppt presentation.

• Gaia is Mother Earth. She is from whom everything comes, but she is not quite a divinity, because she is Earth. She bore the Titans as well as monsters like the hundred armed men, and some of the Cyclopes - others were sons of Poseidon. She was the daughter of Chaos, and the mother of all creatures (according to some). She was the first and the last, and wanted all of her children, no matter what. She was primarily spoken of as a Mother of other Gods, rather than having her own myths.
• The Gaia Hypothesis
• Earth is a self-regulating system
• The system includes both life and the physical world
• The system is capable of maintaining a surface environment that is suitable for life
• Redwood trees are like Gaia because 97 of their tissues are dead. The wood of the trunk and the bark of the tree are dead. Only a small rim of cells along the periphery of the trunk is living. The trunk of the tree is similar to the Earth's lithosphere with a thin layer of living organisms spread across its surface. The bark, like the atmosphere, protects the living tissues, and allows for the exchange of biologically important gases, such as carbon dioxide and oxygen.
• Three Interpretations of the Gaia Hypothesis
• Theological or teleological
• Earth System is sensitive
• Earth System is resilient
• Theological or Teleological View
• Earth controls its own destiny
• Optimizing Gaia The biota optimize climate
• for their own benefit
• (not part of Lovelocks definition of Gaia)
• View that the Earth System is Sensitive
• The system is interconnected, and a small perturbation can influence the whole system
• Certainly is true with respect to the weather
• The butterfly effect A butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon can influence weather patterns globally a few days later
• Probably not literally true, but nevertheless this is an illustration of chaos,which is observed in weather simulations
• View that the Earth System is Resilient
• The system can adapt to perturbations
• This should not be interpreted as meaning that we can do anything we like, e.g., emit large amounts of CO2, and nothing will happen as a result...
• Scientific Implications of Gaia Hypothesis
• A new view of the Earth as one system
• Not really that newVernadsky had
• proposed this back in the early part of
• the last century
• From this view emerged Earth System Science

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The Gaia Hypothesis Gaia Hypothesis. James Lovelock 1979 Earth is a “super organism” It is alive Like one single organism Name is from Greek Earth Godess.

Published by Cory Jacobs Modified over 8 years ago

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Presentation on theme: "The Gaia Hypothesis Gaia Hypothesis. James Lovelock 1979 Earth is a “super organism” It is alive Like one single organism Name is from Greek Earth Godess."— Presentation transcript:

Daisy World.

Homeostasis Walter Cannon 1932 The Wisdom of the Body Jame Lovelock ~1969 Gaia hypothesis (Lovelock, J.E.; Margulis, L. (1974). "Atmospheric homeostasis.

Living systems display the following 3 characteristics: functionality, sustainability, evolution.

CO2 and Long-Term Climate

GAIA HYPOTHESIS  Created by James Lovelock in 1969 (but not published until 1979)  Named after the Greek Goddess Gaia who was the Earth Goddess.

GAIA HYPOTHESIS  the idea of the Earth as a single living superorganism  James Lovelock  Gaia - a new look at life on Earth, Oxford University Press,

Biogeochemical Cycles

All You Wanted To Know About The Gaia Theory Pietro Paolo Bertagnolio 23 January 2008 Proseminar Presentation Techniques Pietro Paolo Bertagnolio 23 January.

Chapter 2 Section 2 Review Page 38 Energy in the Earth System

Daisyworld. Daisy World Gaia Theory: the world is a strongly interacting system William Golding – Nobel laureate Oxford physics undergraduate James Lovelock.

Evaluation II – The Atmosphere Feedback describes the situation when output from (or information about the result of) an event or phenomenon in the past.

Earth Systems Science or Gaia. A new/different kind of ecology Holistic science, is an approach to research that emphasizes the study of complex systems.

Daisyworld.

By Abhinav Krishna M VI - F

Earth: The Fragile Miracle

The GAIA Hypothesis and it‘s role in Earth System Modelling GCM – 1. Semester: Physical Fundamentals of GC, Juliane Gnau Quelle: Wikipedia The release.

The Characteristics of Life

Chapter Four systems: a theoretical framework. The Biosphere … the biosphere includes air, rocks, water and life Atmosphere : a mixture of nitrogen (78%),

Connections among the great spheres

About project

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Chapter 18: Life On Earth

Chapter 1 how science works.

• The Scientific Method
• Measurements
• Units and the Metric System
• Measurement Errors
• Mass, Length, and Time
• Observations and Uncertainty
• Precision and Significant Figures
• Errors and Statistics
• Scientific Notation
• Ways of Representing Data
• Mathematics
• Testing a Hypothesis
• Case Study of Life on Mars
• Systems of Knowledge
• The Culture of Science
• Computer Simulations
• Modern Scientific Research
• The Scope of Astronomy
• Astronomy as a Science
• A Scale Model of Space
• A Scale Model of Time

Chapter 2 Early Astronomy

• The Night Sky
• Motions in the Sky
• Constellations and Seasons
• Cause of the Seasons
• The Magnitude System
• Angular Size and Linear Size
• Phases of the Moon
• Dividing Time
• Solar and Lunar Calendars
• History of Astronomy
• Ancient Observatories
• Counting and Measurement
• Greek Astronomy
• Aristotle and Geocentric Cosmology
• Aristarchus and Heliocentric Cosmology
• The Dark Ages
• Arab Astronomy
• Indian Astronomy
• Chinese Astronomy
• Mayan Astronomy

Chapter 3 The Copernican Revolution

• Ptolemy and the Geocentric Model
• The Renaissance
• Copernicus and the Heliocentric Model
• Tycho Brahe
• Johannes Kepler
• Elliptical Orbits
• Kepler's Laws
• Galileo Galilei
• The Trial of Galileo
• Isaac Newton
• Newton's Law of Gravity
• The Plurality of Worlds
• The Birth of Modern Science
• Layout of the Solar System
• Scale of the Solar System
• The Idea of Space Exploration
• History of Space Exploration
• Moon Landings
• International Space Station
• Manned versus Robotic Missions
• Commercial Space Flight
• Future of Space Exploration
• Living in Space
• Moon, Mars, and Beyond
• Societies in Space

Chapter 4 Matter and Energy in the Universe

• Matter and Energy
• Rutherford and Atomic Structure
• Early Greek Physics
• Dalton and Atoms
• The Periodic Table
• Structure of the Atom
• Heat and Temperature
• Potential and Kinetic Energy
• Conservation of Energy
• Velocity of Gas Particles
• States of Matter
• Thermodynamics
• Laws of Thermodynamics
• Heat Transfer
• Thermal Radiation
• Radiation from Planets and Stars
• Internal Heat in Planets and Stars
• Periodic Processes
• Random Processes

Chapter 5 The Earth-Moon System

• Earth and Moon
• Early Estimates of Earth's Age
• How the Earth Cooled
• Ages Using Radioactivity
• Radioactive Half-Life
• Ages of the Earth and Moon
• Geological Activity
• Internal Structure of the Earth and Moon
• Basic Rock Types
• Layers of the Earth and Moon
• Origin of Water on Earth
• The Evolving Earth
• Plate Tectonics
• Geological Processes
• Impact Craters
• The Geological Timescale
• Mass Extinctions
• Evolution and the Cosmic Environment
• Earth's Atmosphere and Oceans
• Weather Circulation
• Environmental Change on Earth
• The Earth-Moon System
• Geological History of the Moon
• Tidal Forces
• Effects of Tidal Forces
• Historical Studies of the Moon
• Lunar Surface
• Ice on the Moon
• Origin of the Moon
• Humans on the Moon

Chapter 6 The Terrestrial Planets

• Studying Other Planets
• The Planets
• The Terrestrial Planets
• Mercury's Orbit
• Mercury's Surface
• Volcanism on Venus
• Venus and the Greenhouse Effect
• Tectonics on Venus
• Exploring Venus
• Mars in Myth and Legend
• Early Studies of Mars
• Mars Close-Up
• Modern Views of Mars
• Missions to Mars
• Geology of Mars
• Water on Mars
• Polar Caps of Mars
• Climate Change on Mars
• Terraforming Mars
• Life on Mars
• The Moons of Mars
• Martian Meteorites
• Comparative Planetology
• Incidence of Craters
• Counting Craters
• Counting Statistics
• Internal Heat and Geological Activity
• Magnetic Fields of the Terrestrial Planets
• Mountains and Rifts
• Radar Studies of Planetary Surfaces
• Laser Ranging and Altimetry
• Gravity and Atmospheres
• Normal Atmospheric Composition
• The Significance of Oxygen

Chapter 7 The Giant Planets and Their Moons

• The Gas Giant Planets
• Atmospheres of the Gas Giant Planets
• Clouds and Weather on Gas Giant Planets
• Internal Structure of the Gas Giant Planets
• Thermal Radiation from Gas Giant Planets
• Life on Gas Giant Planets?
• Why Giant Planets are Giant
• Ring Systems of the Giant Planets
• Structure Within Ring Systems
• The Origin of Ring Particles
• The Roche Limit
• Resonance and Harmonics
• Tidal Forces in the Solar System
• Moons of Gas Giant Planets
• Geology of Large Moons
• The Voyager Missions
• Jupiter's Galilean Moons
• Jupiter's Ganymede
• Jupiter's Europa
• Jupiter's Callisto
• Jupiter's Io
• Volcanoes on Io
• Cassini Mission to Saturn
• Saturn's Titan
• Saturn's Enceladus
• Discovery of Uranus and Neptune
• Uranus' Miranda
• Neptune's Triton
• The Discovery of Pluto
• Pluto as a Dwarf Planet
• Dwarf Planets

Chapter 8 Interplanetary Bodies

• Interplanetary Bodies
• Early Observations of Comets
• Structure of the Comet Nucleus
• Comet Chemistry
• Oort Cloud and Kuiper Belt
• Kuiper Belt
• Comet Orbits
• Life Story of Comets
• The Largest Kuiper Belt Objects
• Meteors and Meteor Showers
• Gravitational Perturbations
• Surveys for Earth Crossing Asteroids
• Asteroid Shapes
• Composition of Asteroids
• Introduction to Meteorites
• Origin of Meteorites
• Types of Meteorites
• The Tunguska Event
• The Threat from Space
• Probability and Impacts
• Impact on Jupiter
• Interplanetary Opportunity

Chapter 9 Planet Formation and Exoplanets

• Formation of the Solar System
• Early History of the Solar System
• Conservation of Angular Momentum
• Angular Momentum in a Collapsing Cloud
• Helmholtz Contraction
• Safronov and Planet Formation
• Collapse of the Solar Nebula
• Why the Solar System Collapsed
• From Planetesimals to Planets
• Accretion and Solar System Bodies
• Differentiation
• Planetary Magnetic Fields
• The Origin of Satellites
• Solar System Debris and Formation
• Gradual Evolution and a Few Catastrophies
• Chaos and Determinism
• Extrasolar Planets
• Discoveries of Exoplanets
• Doppler Detection of Exoplanets
• Transit Detection of Exoplanets
• The Kepler Mission
• Direct Detection of Exoplanets
• Properties of Exoplanets
• Implications of Exoplanet Surveys
• Future Detection of Exoplanets

Chapter 10 Detecting Radiation from Space

• Observing the Universe
• Radiation and the Universe
• The Nature of Light
• The Electromagnetic Spectrum
• Properties of Waves
• Waves and Particles
• How Radiation Travels
• Properties of Electromagnetic Radiation
• The Doppler Effect
• Invisible Radiation
• Thermal Spectra
• The Quantum Theory
• The Uncertainty Principle
• Spectral Lines
• Emission Lines and Bands
• Absorption and Emission Spectra
• Kirchoff's Laws
• Astronomical Detection of Radiation
• The Telescope
• Optical Telescopes
• Optical Detectors
• Adaptive Optics
• Image Processing
• Digital Information
• Radio Telescopes
• Telescopes in Space
• Hubble Space Telescope
• Interferometry
• Collecting Area and Resolution
• Frontier Observatories

Chapter 11 Our Sun: The Nearest Star

• The Nearest Star
• Properties of the Sun
• Kelvin and the Sun's Age
• The Sun's Composition
• Energy From Atomic Nuclei
• Mass-Energy Conversion
• Examples of Mass-Energy Conversion
• Energy From Nuclear Fission
• Energy From Nuclear Fusion
• Nuclear Reactions in the Sun
• The Sun's Interior
• Energy Flow in the Sun
• Collisions and Opacity
• Solar Neutrinos
• Solar Oscillations
• The Sun's Atmosphere
• Solar Chromosphere and Corona
• The Solar Cycle
• The Solar Wind
• Effects of the Sun on the Earth
• Cosmic Energy Sources

Chapter 12 Properties of Stars

• Star Properties
• The Distance to Stars
• Apparent Brightness
• Absolute Brightness
• Measuring Star Distances
• Stellar Parallax
• Spectra of Stars
• Spectral Classification
• Temperature and Spectral Class
• Stellar Composition
• Stellar Motion
• Stellar Luminosity
• The Size of Stars
• Stefan-Boltzmann Law
• Stellar Mass
• Hydrostatic Equilibrium
• Stellar Classification
• The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
• Volume and Brightness Selected Samples
• Stars of Different Sizes
• Understanding the Main Sequence
• Stellar Structure
• Stellar Evolution

Chapter 13 Star Birth and Death

• Star Birth and Death
• Understanding Star Birth and Death
• Cosmic Abundance of Elements
• Star Formation
• Molecular Clouds
• Young Stars
• T Tauri Stars
• Mass Limits for Stars
• Brown Dwarfs
• Young Star Clusters
• Cauldron of the Elements
• Main Sequence Stars
• Nuclear Reactions in Main Sequence Stars
• Main Sequence Lifetimes
• Evolved Stars
• Cycles of Star Life and Death
• The Creation of Heavy Elements
• Horizontal Branch and Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars
• Variable Stars
• Magnetic Stars
• Stellar Mass Loss
• White Dwarfs
• Seeing the Death of a Star
• Supernova 1987A
• Neutron Stars and Pulsars
• Special Theory of Relativity
• General Theory of Relativity
• Black Holes
• Properties of Black Holes

Chapter 14 The Milky Way

• The Distribution of Stars in Space
• Stellar Companions
• Binary Star Systems
• Binary and Multiple Stars
• Mass Transfer in Binaries
• Binaries and Stellar Mass
• Nova and Supernova
• Exotic Binary Systems
• Gamma Ray Bursts
• How Multiple Stars Form
• Environments of Stars
• The Interstellar Medium
• Effects of Interstellar Material on Starlight
• Structure of the Interstellar Medium
• Dust Extinction and Reddening
• Groups of Stars
• Open Star Clusters
• Globular Star Clusters
• Distances to Groups of Stars
• Ages of Groups of Stars
• Layout of the Milky Way
• William Herschel
• Isotropy and Anisotropy
• Mapping the Milky Way

Chapter 15 Galaxies

• The Milky Way Galaxy
• Mapping the Galaxy Disk
• Spiral Structure in Galaxies
• Mass of the Milky Way
• Dark Matter in the Milky Way
• Galaxy Mass
• The Galactic Center
• Black Hole in the Galactic Center
• Stellar Populations
• Formation of the Milky Way
• The Shapley-Curtis Debate
• Edwin Hubble
• Distances to Galaxies
• Classifying Galaxies
• Spiral Galaxies
• Elliptical Galaxies
• Lenticular Galaxies
• Dwarf and Irregular Galaxies
• Overview of Galaxy Structures
• The Local Group
• Light Travel Time
• Galaxy Size and Luminosity
• Mass to Light Ratios
• Dark Matter in Galaxies
• Gravity of Many Bodies
• Galaxy Evolution
• Galaxy Interactions
• Galaxy Formation

Chapter 16 The Expanding Universe

• Galaxy Redshifts
• The Expanding Universe
• Cosmological Redshifts
• The Hubble Relation
• Relating Redshift and Distance
• Galaxy Distance Indicators
• Size and Age of the Universe
• The Hubble Constant
• Large Scale Structure
• Galaxy Clustering
• Clusters of Galaxies
• Overview of Large Scale Structure
• Dark Matter on the Largest Scales
• The Most Distant Galaxies
• Black Holes in Nearby Galaxies
• Active Galaxies
• Radio Galaxies
• The Discovery of Quasars
• Types of Gravitational Lensing
• Properties of Quasars
• The Quasar Power Source
• Quasars as Probes of the Universe
• Star Formation History of the Universe
• Expansion History of the Universe

Chapter 17 Cosmology

• Early Cosmologies
• Relativity and Cosmology
• The Big Bang Model
• The Cosmological Principle
• Universal Expansion
• Cosmic Nucleosynthesis
• Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation
• Discovery of the Microwave Background Radiation
• Measuring Space Curvature
• Cosmic Evolution
• Evolution of Structure
• Mean Cosmic Density
• Critical Density
• Dark Matter and Dark Energy
• Age of the Universe
• Precision Cosmology
• The Future of the Contents of the Universe
• Fate of the Universe
• Alternatives to the Big Bang Model
• Particles and Radiation
• The Very Early Universe
• Mass and Energy in the Early Universe
• Matter and Antimatter
• The Forces of Nature
• Fine-Tuning in Cosmology
• The Anthropic Principle in Cosmology
• String Theory and Cosmology
• The Multiverse
• The Limits of Knowledge

Chapter 18 Life On Earth

• Nature of Life
• Chemistry of Life
• Molecules of Life
• The Origin of Life on Earth
• Origin of Complex Molecules
• Miller-Urey Experiment
• Pre-RNA World
• From Molecules to Cells
• Extremophiles
• Thermophiles
• Psychrophiles
• Acidophiles
• Alkaliphiles
• Radiation Resistant Biology
• Importance of Water for Life
• Hydrothermal Systems
• Silicon Versus Carbon
• DNA and Heredity
• Life as Digital Information
• Synthetic Biology
• Life in a Computer
• Natural Selection
• Tree Of Life
• Evolution and Intelligence
• Culture and Technology

The Gaia Hypothesis

• Life and the Cosmic Environment

Chapter 19 Life in the Universe

• Life in the Universe
• Astrobiology
• Life Beyond Earth
• Sites for Life
• Complex Molecules in Space
• Life in the Solar System
• Lowell and Canals on Mars
• Implications of Life on Mars
• Extreme Environments in the Solar System
• Rare Earth Hypothesis
• Are We Alone?
• Unidentified Flying Objects or UFOs
• The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
• The Drake Equation
• The History of SETI
• Recent SETI Projects
• Recognizing a Message
• The Best Way to Communicate
• The Fermi Question
• The Anthropic Principle
• Where Are They?

During the 1960s, America was consumed in an era of post-Sputnik competition that was characterized by engagement in a race against the Soviet Union: the Space Race. Humans were launched into space, the surface of the Moon was first explored, and the first of many missions to Mars were planned. It was during the planning stages for the Viking missions that ideas behind the Gaia Hypothesis began to take shape. James Lovelock, an atmospheric scientist, was asked by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to help design experiments for the Viking mission for the detection of life on Mars. The experiments conducted during the Viking mission found no evidence of life, but this wasn't surprising to Lovelock. He had already predicted as much through his own observations of the Martian atmosphere .

How could Lovelock have been so confident about the prospects for life on the red planet ? A simple comparison of Earth's atmosphere to Venus and Mars reveals a stark difference between Earth and its neighbors. While the atmospheres of Venus and Mars are comprised primarily of carbon dioxide with small amounts of oxygen, nitrogen, and other gases, Earth's atmosphere is over ¾ nitrogen and almost a quarter oxygen. The atmospheres of Venus and Mars, as noted by Lovelock and other scientists, are in equilibrium , a "dead" equilibrium. Earth, on the other hand, has an atmosphere that is far from equilibrium. And what is keeping it out of equilibrium? Life.

Based on his observations of planetary atmospheres, Lovelock proposed his own theory , which has famously become known as the Gaia Hypothesis. His idea was first exposed in his book, Gaia, a New Look at Life on Earth, in 1979. It was here that Lovelock described Earth as "A planet transfigured and transformed by a self-evolving and self-regulating living system. By the nature of its activity, it seemed to qualify as a living being." He named this living being Gaia. Within Gaia, the existing biomass is thought to self-regulate physical conditions on the planet to make it more suitable for life. Lovelock's hypothesis was met with much criticism from the scientific community. Although scientists could not deny the interrelatedness of organisms and the environment, they balked at the idea of Earth possessing some form of coherent behavior like that of a living organism . In addition, since Gaia can't reproduce herself, she cannot be considered alive by any conventional definition of life. Finally, scientists argued that there is no way to perform an experiment to show how the proposed feedback systems within the Gaia proposal could have evolved over time .

Several decades have passed since Lovelock published his first provocative book. Since then, the Gaia Hypothesis has evolved as much as Gaia herself. Lovelock later renounced any implications that Gaia is a conscious being by stating, "Nowhere in our writings do we express the idea that planetary self-regulation is purposeful, or involves foresight or planning by the biota." The Gaia Hypothesis has changed from a theory that described Gaia as a homeostatic system (in which homeostatic feedback from living biota influences the abiotic world) to one that is homeorhetic. The difference between the two systems is subtle. In a homeostatic system, there is a trend toward constant values for various parameters (ie: atmosphere, hydrosphere, etc). A system that is homeorhetic will be similarly dynamic, but won't necessarily converge to a constant state. This view of Gaia as a system is more acceptable to scientists as it helps to explain how the system, our Earth, can evolve over time. After all, one concrete example of how living organisms have drastically impacted the physical environment was the oxygen explosion following the activity of photosynthetic bacteria during Precambrian times, a noteworthy mile marker in the evolutionary history of Earth. James Lovelock died in 2022 on his 103rd birthday, having been an active scientist well past his hundredth year.

With respect to our search for life in the universe , the most important result of the Gaia Hypothesis was the recognition that the biotic and abiotic components of any planet are integrally related. As we extend our searches for life beyond our Solar System, this knowledge will be extremely useful. The vast distances between stars currently make it impossible to directly explore extrasolar planets. However, with the use of new telescope technology, we will soon be able to make measurements of alien atmospheres. If we detect an atmosphere vastly out of equilibrium, we may draw on the lessons and research that were a direct consequence of the controversies surrounding the Gaia Hypothesis.

Gaia Hypothesis

Mar 15, 2019

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Gaia Hypothesis. Created by James Lovelock in 1969 (but not published until 1979) "the biosphere - atmosphere, oceans, climate, Earth's crust and biota, living organisms, is regulated as a homeostatic system in conditions comfortable for the living organisms".

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• ocean salinity
• remained constant
• single organism
• life favourable values
• atmospheric composition remains constant

Presentation Transcript

Created by James Lovelock in 1969 (but not published until 1979) • "the biosphere - atmosphere, oceans, climate, Earth's crust and biota, living organisms, is regulated as a homeostatic system in conditions comfortable for the living organisms"

Hypothesis: that the entire mass of living matter on Earth (the biosphere) functions as a single and vast superorganism that actively modifies its planet to produce the environment that suits its needs.

What is the Gaia Hypothesis? • Life itself is responsible for maintaining the stability of Earth’s climate. • The Earth has remained habitable because in some sense it is “alive” • Biota manipulate their environment to optimize conditions for life.

Gaia theory (or hypothesis), it was implied that the conditions such as climate of the Earth were regulated (around life-favourable values) 'by and for the biota'. It is the system as a whole, organisms and environment, that forms a closely-coupled self-regulating system Causes for the regulation are at the level of the whole system rather than individual isolated parts.

3 Ways Earth regulates itself • Surface Temperature – has remained constant despite the energy increase by the Sun • Atmospheric Composition – remains constant even though it should be unstable • Ocean Salinity – remains constant despite the fact that river salts should have raised the ocean salinity much higher

GAIAN ATTRIBUTES • Earth is a super-organism • Biota and physical environment are so tightly coupled they are considered a single organism. • The climate and chemical composition of Earth are kept in homeostatis at an optimum by and for the biosphere. • Recognizes emergent properties. (Such as Salinity, Air Temperature)

The nature of science • Science is a systematic way of understanding nature. • Scientific knowledge changes. • Science does not produce “truths”. However, science produces theories. Is this clear? A theory is broad in scope. It helps us make predictions about other phenomena. It is supported by a large body of evidence.

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Gaia Grant (BA Dip Ed BD Hons MEd Hons Cand) is a the the author of several books, including: - Living in Three Dimensions  - A Patch of Paradise (Random House)   The Rhythm of Life (Transworld) which examine cross-cultural principles in relationships and work.

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The Gaia Hypothesis, Evolution and Ecology

• First Online: 15 April 2021

Cite this chapter

• Guido Visconti 2  

769 Accesses

The Gaia hypothesis was introduced in the 1970s by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis. The original idea proposed that near homeostatic conditions on Earth have been maintained “by and for the biosphere”. A major justification for this approach was that the atmospheric composition for an anabiotic Earth would be quite different from the observed one. However, the authors did not provide details of how these calculations were made and on the basis of the biogeochemical cycles knowledge at that time (fifty years ago) it is quite dubious that those results represented reality.

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Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche e Chimiche, Università Degli Studi dell’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy

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By Muddiman, S.  (2019).

This book bridges the gap between economic and ecological theory and practice. Its main focus is on how the principles of the Austrian School of economics could improve the validity of Ecosystem Services.

Please see https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030138189 for original source.

Earth System Analysis

By Schellnhuber, H. (Ed), Wenzel, V. (Ed)  (1998).

As humanity approaches the 3rd millennium, the sustainability of our present way of life becomes more and more questionable. New paradigms for the long-term coevolution of nature and civilization are urgently needed in order to avoid intolerable and irreversible modifications of our planetary environment. Earth System Analysis is a new scientific enterprise that tries to perceive the earth as a whole, a unique system which is to be analyzed with methods ranging from nonlinear dynamics to macroeconomic modelling.

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Gaia’s Body

By Volk, T.  (1998).

Is Earth alive? Put more rigorously, is the biosphere a self- sustaining meta-organism? This is the essence of Gaia theory: if the biosphere really is a single coherent system, then it must have something like a physiology. It must have systems and processes that perform living functions. OK, then, what systems, what processes, what functions? Gaia's Body is Tyler Volk's answer to this question. In this book, he describes the environment that enables the biosphere to exist; various ways of looking at its “anatomy” and “physiology,” the major biogeographical regions such as rainforests, deserts, and tundra; the major substances the biosphere is made of; and the chemical cycles that keep it in balance.

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The Biosphere

By Vernadsky, V. I.  (1998).

Long unknown in the West, The Biosphere established the field of biogeochemistry and is one of the classic founding documents of what later became known as Gaia theory. It is the first sustained expression of the idea that life is a geological force that can change Earth's landforms, its climate, and even the contents of its atmosphere. A complete, unabridged translation has never before been available in English. This edition - complete with extensive annotations, an introductory essay placing the work in its historical context and explaining its relevance to readers today, and a foreword cosigned by a stellar group of international experts - will be the definitive edition of this classic work.

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The Dynamics of Small Solar System Bodies

By Wood, J.  (2019).

This SpringerBrief summarizes the latest relevant research and discoveries that have been made in the area of ringed small bodies and small body taxonomy, including those that lay the groundwork for future discoveries.

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The Earth System and Evolution of Life

By Maruyama, S., Santosh, M. W.  (2021).

During the last 200 years since Geology has been established as an integrated science, nearly the same duration as modern Biology, our understanding of the Earth has taken great leaps forward through the works of several experts, and by contributions from a large number of scientific community. In the 21st Century, however, we face a massive challenge to understand and integrate the voluminous data and break-through made in several fields of Genome-Biology, Astronomy, Climate in the near future, fast depleting resources and the fate of human beings in this Planet. The well illustrated chapters in this book provide a succinent summary of the multi-disciplinary nature of science and attempts to bridge genome-level biology through astronomy and earth history.

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Understanding the Earth System

By Ehlers, E. (Ed), Krafft, T. (Ed)  (2001).

This volume includes revised versions of most of the presentations made at the International Conference «Understanding the Earth Sys­ tem: Compartments, Processes and Interactions” held on November 24–26, 1999 in Bonn. The Conference was organized by the German National Committee on Global Change Research as part of the Bonn Science Festival 1999–2000.

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Visconti, G. (2021). The Gaia Hypothesis, Evolution and Ecology. In: Visconti, G. (eds) Climate, Planetary and Evolutionary Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74713-8_11

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