The Revenge of Gaia: Why the Earth Is Fighting Back - and How We Can Still Save Humanity - Softcover
Synopsis
In The Revenge of Gaia, bestselling author James Lovelock - father of climate studies and originator of the influential Gaia theory which views the entire earth as a living meta-organism -provides a definitive look at our imminent global crisis. In this disturbing new book, Lovelock guides us toward a hard reality: soon, we may not be able to alter the oncoming climate crisis. Lovelock’s influential Gaia theory, one of the building blocks of modern climate science, conceives of the Earth, including the atmosphere, oceans, biosphere and upper layers of rock, as a single living super-organism, regulating its internal environment much as an animal regulates its body temperature and chemical balance. But now, says Lovelock, that organism is sick. It is running a fever born of the combination of a sun whose intensity is slowly growing over millions of years, and an atmosphere whose greenhouse gases have recently spiked due to human activity. Earth will adjust to these stresses, but on time scales measured in the hundreds of millennia. It is already too late, Lovelock says, to prevent the global climate from “flipping” into an entirely new equilibrium state that will leave the tropics uninhabitable, and force migration to the poles. The Revenge of Gaia explains the stress the planetary system is under and how humans are contributing to it, what the consequences will be, and what humanity must do to rescue itself.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
James Lovelock is the author of more than 200 scientific papers and the originator of the Gaia Hypothesis (now Gaia Theory). He has written three books on the subject: Gaia: a new look at life on Earth; The Ages of Gaia; Gaia: the practical science of planetary medicine; and an autobiography, Homage to Gaia. He has received many honorary degrees as well as being made Companion of Honour by the Queen in 2003. He has held posts at numerous universities both in the UK and the US and since 1994 has been an Honorary Visiting Fellow of Green College, University of Oxford.
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. The end is all but nigh for Mother Earth's inhabitants unless drastic measures are soon taken: that's the rueful prognostication delivered by Lovelock (Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth), intuitive originator of the theory that the world is a self-regulating system that, over the eons, has been able to sustain an equilibrium between hot and cold so as to support life. Now, propelled by global warming, Lovelock says, a tipping point has almost been reached beyond which the Earth will not recover sufficiently to sustain human life comfortably. Lovelock dismisses biomass fuels, wind farms, solar energy and fuel cell innovations as technologies unlikely to mitigate greenhouse gases in time to save the planet. Instead he sees nuclear energy as the only energy source that can meet our needs in time to prevent catastrophe. Chernobyl was a calamity, he notes, but nuclear power's danger is "insignificant compared with the real threat of intolerable and lethal heatwaves" and rising sea levels that could "threaten every coastal city of the world." Lovelock's pro-nuke enthusiasm, unexpected from one of the mid-20th century's most ardent environmental thinkers, is the well-reasoned core of this urgent call for braking at the brink of global catastrophe. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Other Popular Editions of the Same Title
Search results for The Revenge of Gaia: Why the Earth Is Fighting Back...
Seller Image
The Revenge of Gaia (TPB) (OM): Why the earth is fighting back and how we can still save humanity
Seller: Book Grocer, Tullamarine, VIC, Australia
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Secondhand, Paperback. [Author], [Publisher]. NB: This is a secondhand book in very good condition. See our FAQs for more information. Please note that the jacket image is indicative only. A description of our secondhand books is not always available. Please contact us if you have a question about this title. Author: James Lovelock Format: Paperback Number of Pages: 192 Lovelock's unique authority and original perspective sets this book apart from other books on environmental change. He speaks as a "planetary physician" with more than forty years' experience of thinking about how to respond to the Earth's needs as a living organism. Illustrated with examples drawn from his experiences around the world, Lovelock draws many radical conclusions, most controversially a passionate advocacy of nuclear energy. This, he argues, is not only a secure, safe and reliable source of energy but also the only way to counter the lethal heat waves and rising sea levels which will increasingly threaten civilisations. Lovelock argues that the only way for humankind to come to terms with Gaia now, and have a chance of surviving, is to embrace science and technology, not reject them. This is his passionate manifesto of how to do that and so lessen our impact on the Earth before it is too late. Secondhand, Paperback. Seller Inventory # 9780713999266-SECONDHAND
Buy Used
US$ 7.21
US$ 30.00 shipping
Ships from Australia to U.S.A.
Ships from Australia to U.S.A.
Quantity: 2 available
Stock Image
The Revenge of Gaia: Why the Earth is Fighting Back - And How We Can Still Save Humanity.
Published by
Allen Lane / Penguin Books, Melbourne, 2006
ISBN 10: 0713999268
ISBN 13: 9780713999266
Used
Softcover
Seller: BOOKHOME SYDNEY, Annandale Sydney, NSW, Australia
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Australian ed. Paperback trade (with flaps), very good condition, colour photos centre spread, few figures, pages toned as usual, minor edgewear. 177 pp. The key insight of Lovelock's Gaia Theory is that the entire Earth functions as a single living super-organism. That organism is now sick. It is running a fever because of increased atmospheric greenhouse gases. Earth will adjust to these stresses, but the human race faces a severe test. It is already too late to prevent the global climate from flipping into a new equilibrium that will threaten civilization. But we can do much to save humanity. In the tradition of "Silent Spring," this is a call to address a major threat to our collective future. Seller Inventory # 17771
Buy Used
US$ 10.82
US$ 43.70 shipping
Ships from Australia to U.S.A.
Ships from Australia to U.S.A.
Quantity: 1 available