The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning

289 Pages·2009·0.75 MB·English

by  James Lovelock

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The Vanishing Face of Gaia
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J A M E S L O V E L O C K
THE VANISHING
FACE OF GAIA
A Final Warning
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
New York
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Copyright © 2009by James Lovelock
Published by Basic Books,
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission except in the case
of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
For information, address Basic Books, 387Park Avenue South,
New York, NY 10016-8810.
Books published by Basic Books are available at special
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Books Group, 2300Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia,
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or e-mail [email protected].
Composition in 11 point Sabon by Cindy Young.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lovelock, James, 1919–
The vanishing face of gaia : a final warning / James Lovelock.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-465-01549-8
1. Gaia hypothesis. 2. Biology—Philosophy. 3. Biosphere.
4. Life (Biology) I. Title.
QH331.L6885 2008
577.27—dc22
2009001280
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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I dedicate this book to my beloved wife,
Sandy
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1 The Journey in Space and Time 1
2 The Climate Forecast 35
3 Consequences and Survival 71
4 Energy and Food Sources 99
5 Geoengineering 139
6 The History of Gaia Theory 159
7 Perceptions of Gaia 187
8 To Be or Not To Be Green 205
9 To the Next World 229
Glossary 251
Further Reading 259
Index 263
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Acknowledgments
I am truly grateful to Richard Betts, John Gray, Armand
Neukermans, Sir Crispin Tickell, Brian Foulger, Gari
Owen, Tim Donaldson, and Elaine Steel, who read the
book and made helpful comments, and to Chris Rapley,
Stephan Harding, Peter Liss, Andrew Watson, Tim Lenton,
and Dave Wilkinson for their valued advice. I also thank
GAIA, registered charity No. 327903, for support during
the writing of this book.
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