From the Publisher
The key insight of Gaia Theory is that the entire Earth functions as a single living super-organism. But according to James Lovelock, the theory’s originator, that organism is now sick. It is running a fever born of increased atmospheric greenhouse gases. Earth will adjust to these stresses, but the human race faces a severe test. It is already too late, Lovelock says, to prevent the global climate from “flipping” into an entirely new equilibrium that will threaten civilization as we know it. 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.
The Washington Post -
Tim Flannery
Minor technical blemishes fail to tarnish this luminous, challenging and timely work. Because it is so full of vital and interesting facts, The Revenge of Gaia is essential reading for anyone interested in climate change. And whatever your politics, it's sure to offend.
Publishers Weekly
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 2006 Reed Business Information.
KLIATT
Lovelock proposes a theory of the Earth as one giant living organism (Gaia) that has a limited lifespan and that is reaching the end of the heat cycle. Add to the natural cycle the enormous amount of damage humans have done to the Earth, especially in the last 200 years, including deforestation, farming too large a percentage of the land, ejecting huge amounts of aerosols into the atmosphere, and using up fossil fuels. Lovelock compares the Earth to an old lady living in an old house besieged by a number of unruly and disruptive teenagers. That analogy is typical of Lovelock, who alternates solid science with images that bring the message home. As a geophysicist, he knows and understands the science and uses charts and photos to prove his point. He believes that nuclear energy is the only way to extend Gaia's hospitality to humans and dismisses the most commonly promoted solutions such as wind power or solar power as too little, too late. The book concludes with a final image of the last survivors living in hot deserts at either pole of the Earth. This book will certainly stir up interesting discussions in the classroom. Age Range: Ages 15 to adult. REVIEWER: Nola Theiss (Vol. 42, No. 1)
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