Earth's Climate Crisis and the Fate of Humanity James Lovelock

[Guest guest]

too bad he's just way to pro-nuke fer my tastes

 

 

 

Earth's Climate Crisis and the Fate of Humanity James Lovelock,

independent scientist and inventor, author of " The Revenge of

Gaia " .

 

Truly one fo the most outstanding and creative thinkers of the

20th Century, Lovelock's work has led to the founding of the

Green movement. His famous Gaiai Theory has changed the way we

think about the Earth. Extremely adept at presenting scientific

data to the general public, his latest book " The Revenge of Gaia "

is on the best seller list in Britain, and the subject of much

heated discussion. His message: " It's a lot later than you

think " . While there certainly is no scientific consensus

about his predictions, there is a very strong consensus that

Lovelock's voice needs to be heard. Often disputed, but rarely

proven wrong, this is a disturbing message from someone who

has studied the earth and its atmosphere for 45 years.

 

Thursday September 14, 2006 at 7:30 pm

 

Stanford Unicersity Jordan Hall RM 420-040

[map at http://campus-map.stanford.edu/index.cfm?ID=01-420]

<http://museum.stanford.edu>

http://startitup.org/gaia

 

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Lovelock offers a compassionate (as well as passionate) and extremely

competent view of the relationship between science and society and he

is one of the most respected and creative environmental thinkers of

the twentieth century. Extremely adept at presenting scientific data

to the general public, his latest book " The Revenge of Gaia " is on

the best seller list in Britain, and the subject of much heated

discussion. His message: " It's a lot later than you think " . While

there certainly is no scientific consensus about his predictions,

there is a very strong consensus that Lovelock's voice needs to be

heard. Often disputed, but rarely proven wrong, this is a disturbing

message from someone who has studied the earth and its atmosphere

for 45 years.

 

Still vigorous at 87, Jim Lovelock is a towering figure in environmental

science. In 1957, he invented the Electron Capture Detector, which

allowed the first trace detection of pesticides such as DDT and PCB's,

and provided the scientific basis for Rachel Carson's " Silent Spring " .

He discovered the ubiquitous presence of CFCs in the atmosphere which

triggered the discovery of their disastrous role in stratospheric ozone

depletion by Noble prize winners Rowland and Molina. His work at JPL for

NASA on the Martian atmosphere, led him to reflect on life on Earth and

develop the " Gaia " hypothesis, later fleshed out in cooperation with

biologist Lynn Margulis (Gaia, A New Look of Life on Earth, Oxford

University Press).

 

There are few people, if any, who have had a greater influence on

our view of the environment and on the nature of the earth as a whole.

His theory, now known academically as Earth Systems Science, offers a

holistic view that elucidates the many complex feedback loops between

life and its environment and changed forever the way we think about

the biosphere (www.startitup.org/gaia). Among others, his simple but

elegant computer models illustrated how life itself was instrumental

in stabilizing the earth's temperature in spite of a 25 % increase

in the sun's output since life began (these models turned later into

the educational game SimEarth). He is now warning that this biological

self-regulation is rapidly failing through man's actions, with probable

dire consequences, unless we take very drastic action.

 

Dr. Lovelock received PhD's both in Medicine and Biophysics and is the

author of over 200 scientific papers on medicine, biology, instrument

science and geo-physiology. An independent scientist of extraordinary

breadth, and a prolific inventor and author, he works out of a barn-

turned-laboratory in Cornwall, England. For his work he has received

eight honorary degrees and numerous scientific awards. His discussions

with Margaret Thatcher in the eighties led her to become aware, at

an early stage, of the dangers of climate change and has fostered

much bi-partisan environmetal cooperation in Britain. In 2003 he

was appointed a Companion of Honour and Commander of the Order of

the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.

 

On a local note, he was a consultant for almost thirty years to Hewlett

Packard in the Analytical Instruments Division. For more information,

you may want to visit James Lovelock - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Should you miss this talk, he is also lecturing at the California

Academy of Sciences in SF on Sept 13 at 8 PM, and will be at at

Keplers for a book signing Sept 15 at 730 PM. This is a unique occsion

to meet one of the living legends of environmental science. Do bring a

friend or pass on the invitation to some one who might be interested.

 

 

Until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always

glorify the hunter