James Lovelock
James Lovelock
James Ephraim Lovelock CH CBE FRSis an independent scientist, environmentalist and futurist who lives in Devon, England. He is best known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, which postulates that the Earth functions as a self-regulating system...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth26 July 1919
stupid climate conservation
Humans are too stupid to prevent climate change from radically impacting on our lives over the coming decades.
world climate usual
The climate is doing its usual tricks. There's nothing much really happening yet. We were supposed to be halfway toward a frying world now.
climate hot states
All the modelling we do shows that the climate is poised on the jump up to a new hot state. It is accelerating so fast that you could say that we are already in it.
years climate lifetime
Geological change usually takes thousands of years to happen but we are seeing the climate changing not just in our lifetimes but also year by year.
population pairs climate
By the end of this century, climate change will reduce the human population to a few breeding pairs surviving near the Arctic.
democracy way climate
Climate change now represents so urgent a threat to mankind that the only way to deal with it is by suspending democracy.
condition fever given soon state suffer took
We have given Gaia a fever and soon her condition will worsen to a state like a coma. She has been there before and recovered, but it took more than 100,000 years. We are responsible and will suffer the consequences.
against data ghost holy literally quite science sin whatsoever
Fudging the data in any way whatsoever is quite literally a sin against the holy ghost of science. I'm not religious, but I put it that way because I feel so strongly. It's the one thing you do not ever do. You've got to have standards.
adapt changes clearly earth emerges entity environment life material tightly
Life clearly does more than adapt to the Earth. It changes the Earth to its own purposes. Evolution is a tightly coupled dance, with life and the material environment as partners. From the dance emerges the entity Gaia.
beehive degrees english-scientist itself matter minus regulate
The beehive regulates its temperature as well as we do. The hive will regulate itself to 37 degrees no matter if it is minus 20 degrees outside.
anyone critics good mad mistake science
What I like about sceptics is that in good science you need critics that make you think: 'Crumbs, have I made a mistake here?' If you don't have that continuously, you really are up the creek. The good sceptics have done a good service, but some of the mad ones I think have not done anyone any favours.
almost britain gas gone greens knock pragmatic sensible switch trying
Gas is almost a give-away in the U.S. at the moment. They've gone for fracking in a big way. This is what makes me very cross with the greens for trying to knock it... Let's be pragmatic and sensible and get Britain to switch everything to methane. We should be going mad on it.
cells earth way
Humans on the Earth behave in some ways like a pathogenic micro-organism, or like the cells of a tumor.
whales atmosphere needs
The entire range of living matter on Earth from whales to viruses and from oaks to algae could be regarded as constituting a single living entity capable of maintaining the Earth's atmosphere to suit its overall needs and endowed with faculties and powers far beyond those of its constituent parts.