James Lovelock

Infobox_Scientist

---

name = James Ephraim Lovelock
birth_date = 26 July 1919
Hertfordshire, England
death_date =
residence = England
nationality = British
field = Chemistry, Earth Science
work_institution = Independent researcher
alma_mater = University of Manchester
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
University of London Harvard Medical School
doctoral_students =
known_for = Electron capture detector
Gaia hypothesis
prizes = FRS, 1974
Tswett Medal, 1975
ACS, 1980
WMO Norbert Gerbier Prize, 1988
Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for the Environment, 1990
CBE, 1990
CH, 2003
footnotes =

Dr James Ephraim Lovelock, CH, CBE, FRS (born 26 July 1919) is an independent scientist, author, researcher, environmentalist, and futurist who lives in Devon, in the south west of England. He is known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, in which he postulates that the Earth functions as a kind of superorganism.

Biography

Born in Letchworth Garden City in Hertfordshire, England, Lovelock was, by his own account, an unhappy pupil at Strand School. [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jmhee5jrjEMC&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=strand+school&source=web&ots=bhdKtVa5Hg&sig=7UGeNG7z-aE9uoOrfSKmt0hLhh0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=16&ct=result#PPA15,M1] He studied chemistry at the University of Manchester, before taking up a Medical Research Council post at the Institute for Medical Research in London [http://www.ecolo.org/lovelock/lovedeten.htm Biography of James Lovelock] , [http://www.ecolo.org/index.html Association of Environmentalists For Nuclear Energy] . Retrieved 30 October 2007.] . His student status enabled temporary deferment of military service during the Second World War, but he registered as a conscientious objector [ [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/james-lovelock-the-green-man-517953.html James Lovelock: The green man] , Ian Irvine, "The Independent", 3 December 2005. Retrieved 14 May 2008.] . He later abandoned this position in the light of Nazi atrocities and tried to enlist for war service, but was told that his medical research was too valuable for this to be considered.

In 1948 Lovelock received a Ph.D. in medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Within the United States he has conducted research at Yale, Baylor College of Medicine, and Harvard University.

Career

A lifelong inventor, Lovelock has created and developed many scientific instruments, some of which were designed for NASA in its programme of planetary exploration. It was while working as a consultant for NASA that Lovelock developed the Gaia Hypothesis, for which he is most widely known.

In early 1961, Lovelock was engaged by NASA to develop sensitive instruments for the analysis of extraterrestrial atmospheres and planetary surfaces. The Viking program that visited Mars in the late-1970s was motivated in part to determining whether Mars supported life, and many of the sensors and experiments that were ultimately deployed aimed to resolve this issue. During work on a precursor of this program, Lovelock became interested in the composition of the Martian atmosphere, reasoning that many life forms on Mars would be obliged to make use of it (and, thus, alter it). However, the atmosphere was found to be in a stable condition close to its chemical equilibrium, with very little oxygen, methane, or hydrogen, but with an overwhelming abundance of carbon dioxide. To Lovelock, the stark contrast between the Martian atmosphere and chemically-dynamic mixture of that of our Earth's biosphere was strongly indicative of the absence of life on the planet [Lovelock, J.E. (1968). [http://www.jameslovelock.org/page6.html A Physical Basis for Life Detection Experiments] . "Nature" 207, 568-570.] . However, when they were finally launched to Mars, the Viking probes still searched (unsuccessfully) for extant life there.

Lovelock invented the electron capture detector, which ultimately assisted in discoveries about the persistence of CFCs and their role in stratospheric ozone depletionLovelock, J.E. (1971). Atmospheric Fluorine Compounds as Indicators of Air Movements. "Nature" 230, 379.] Lovelock, J.E., Maggs, R.J. and Wade, R.J. (1973). Halogenated Hydrocarbons in and over the Atlantic. "Nature" 241, 194-196.] [ [http://www.resurgence.org/resurgence/issues/lovelock187.htm Travels with an Electron Capture Detector] , acceptance speech for Blue Planet Prize 1997] . After studying the operation of the Earth's sulfur cycle [Lovelock, J.E., Maggs, R.J. and Rasmussen, R.A. (1972). Atmospheric Dimethyl Sulphide and the Natural Sulphur Cycle. "Nature" 237, 452-453.] , Lovelock and his colleagues developed the CLAW hypothesis as a possible example of biological control of the Earth's climateCharlson, R. J., Lovelock, J. E., Andreae, M. O. and Warren, S. G. (1987). [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v326/n6114/abs/326655a0.html Oceanic phytoplankton, atmospheric sulphur, cloud albedo and climate.] "Nature" 326, 655-661.] .

Lovelock was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1974. He served as the president of the Marine Biological Association (MBA) from 1986 to 1990, and has been a Honourary Visiting Fellow of Green College, Oxford since 1994. He has been awarded a number of prestigious prizes including the Tswett Medal (1975), an ACS chromatography award (1980), the WMO Norbert Gerbier Prize (1988), the Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for the Environment (1990) and the RGS Discovery Lifetime award (2001). He became a CBE in 1990, and a Companion of Honour in 2003.

An independent scientist, inventor, and author, Lovelock works out of a barn-turned-laboratory in Devon.

CFCs

After the development of his electron capture detector, in the late 1960s, Lovelock was the first to detect the widespread presence of CFCs in the atmosphere. He found a concentration of 60 parts per trillion of CFC-11 over Ireland and, in a partially self-funded research expedition in 1972, went on to measure the concentration of CFC-11 from the northern hemisphere to the Antarctic aboard the research vessel RV ShackletonLovelock, J.E. (1989). "The Ages of Gaia". Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. ISBN 0-19-286090-9.] . He found the gas in each of the 50 air samples that he collected but, not realising that the breakdown of CFCs in the stratosphere would release chlorine that posed a threat to the ozone layer, concluded that the level of CFCs constituted "no conceivable hazard". He has since stated that he meant "no conceivable toxic hazard".

However, the experiment did provide the first useful data on the ubiquitous presence of CFCs in the atmosphere. The damage caused to the ozone layer by the photolysis of CFCs was later discovered by Frank Rowland and Mario Molina . After hearing a lecture on the subject of Lovelock's results cite web| title = CFC-Ozone Puzzle: Lecture | author = F. Sherwood Rowland and Mario J. Molina| date = 2000-12-07| url = http://www.eoearth.org/article/CFC-Ozone_Puzzle:_Lecture| accessdate = 2007-12-10 ] , they embarked on research that resulted in the first published paper that suggested a link between stratospheric CFCs and ozone depletion in 1974, and later shared the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work [ [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1995/ The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1995] "for ... work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone", Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 9 May 2008.] .

Gaia

First formulated by Lovelock during the 1960s as a result of work for NASA concerned with detecting life on Marscite journal | author = Lovelock, J.E. | year = 1965 | title = A physical basis for life detection experiments | journal = Nature | volume = 207 | issue = 7 | pages = 568–570 | doi = 10.1038/207568a0] , the Gaia hypothesis proposes that living and non-living parts of the earth form a complex interacting system that can be thought of as a single organism [cite journal | author = J. E. Lovelock | title = Gaia as seen through the atmosphere | year = 1972 | journal = Atmospheric Environment | volume = 6 | issue = 8 | pages = 579–580 | doi = 10.1016/0004-6981(72)90076-5 ] [cite journal | author = Lovelock, J.E. | coauthors = Margulis, L. | year = 1974 | title = Atmospheric homeostasis by and for the biosphere- The Gaia hypothesis | journal = Tellus | volume = 26 | issue = 1 | pages = 2–10] . Named after the Greek goddess Gaia, the hypothesis postulates that the biosphere has a regulatory effect on the Earth's environment that acts to sustain life.

While the Gaia Hypothesis was readily accepted by many in the environmentalist community, it has not been fully accepted within the scientific community. Among its more famous critics are the evolutionary biologists Richard Dawkins and Ford Doolittle. These (and other) critics have questioned how natural selection operating on individual organisms can lead to the evolution of planetary-scale homeostasis. [cite book | last = Dawkins | first = Richard | authorlink = Richard Dawkins | title = The Extended Phenotype | subtitle = The Long Reach of the Gene | origyear = 1982 | year = 1999 | publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn = 0-19-288051-9]

Lovelock has responded to these criticisms with models such as Daisyworld, that illustrate how individual-level effects can translate to planetary homeostasis. However, as Earth Systems Science is still in its infancy, it is not yet clear how well Daisyworld applies to the full complexity of the Earth's biosphere and climate. For instance, climatologists believe that the models used by Lovelockcite journal
author = Lovelock, J.E.
coauthors = Kump, L.R.
year = 1995
title = Weathering and glacial cycles
journal = Nature
volume = 373
issue = 6510
pages = 110–110
doi = 10.1038/373110b0] were overly-sensitive to organismsfact|date=May 2008.

Nuclear power

Lovelock has become concerned about the threat of global warming from the greenhouse effect. In 2004 he caused a media sensation when he broke with many fellow environmentalists by pronouncing that "only nuclear power can now halt global warming". In his view, nuclear energy is the only realistic alternative to fossil fuels that has the capacity to both fulfill the large scale energy needs of mankind while also reducing greenhouse emissions. He is an open member of Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy.

In 2005, against the backdrop of renewed UK government interest in nuclear power, Lovelock again publicly announced his support for nuclear energy, stating, "I am a Green, and I entreat my friends in the movement to drop their wrongheaded objection to nuclear energy" [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/09/opinion/09kristof.html?hp Nukes Are Green] , Nicholas Kristof, "The New York Times", 9 April 2005. Retrieved 4 October 2007.] . Although these interventions in the public debate on nuclear power are recent, his views on it are longstanding. In his 1988 book "The Ages of Gaia" he states:

"I have never regarded nuclear radiation or nuclear power as anything other than a normal and inevitable part of the environment. Our prokaryotic forebears evolved on a planet-sized lump of fallout from a star-sized nuclear explosion, a supernova that synthesised the elements that go to make our planet and ourselves."

In "The Revenge of Gaia" [Lovelock, James (2006). "The Revenge of Gaia". Reprinted Penguin, 2007. ISBN 978-0-141-02990-0] (2006), where he puts forward the concept of sustainable retreat, Lovelock writes:

"A television interviewer once asked me, 'But what about nuclear waste? Will it not poison the whole biosphere and persist for millions of years? ' I knew this to be a nightmare fantasy wholly without substance in the real world... One of the striking things about places heavily contaminated by radioactive nuclides is the richness of their wildlife. This is true of the land around Chernobyl, the bomb test sites of the Pacific, and areas near the United States' Savannah River nuclear weapons plant of the Second World War. Wild plants and animals do not perceive radiation as dangerous, and any slight reduction it may cause in their lifespans is far less a hazard than is the presence of people and their pets... I find it sad, but all too human, that there are vast bureaucracies concerned about nuclear waste, huge organisations devoted to decommissioning power stations, but nothing comparable to deal with that truly malign waste, carbon dioxide."

On 30 May 2006, Lovelock told the Australian Lateline television program: "Modern nuclear power stations are useless for making bombs" [http://www.foe.org.au/media-releases/2007/james-lovelock-urged-to-get-his-nuclear-facts-straight/ James Lovelock urged to get his nuclear facts straight] , Friends of the Earth, 4 July 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2007.] . This view may be based on fact that plutonium-239 from the nuclear reactor of a power plant is contaminated with a significant amount of plutonium-240, complicating its use in nuclear weapons [ [http://www.ccnr.org/plute.html Reactor-Grade and Weapons-Grade Plutonium in Nuclear Explosives] , Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility. Retrieved 23 November 2007.] . It is easier to enrich uranium than to separate ²⁴⁰Pu from ²³⁹Pu to produce weapons-grade material, although even reactor-grade plutonium can in fact be used in weapons eg. dirty bombs [ [http://www.ccnr.org/plute_bomb.html Additional information concerning underground nuclear weapon test of reactor-grade plutonium] describing a US test, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility. Retrieved 23 November 2007.] [Lovins, A.B. (1980). [http://www.rmi.org/images/other/Security/S80-01_NucWeaponsAndPluto.pdf Nuclear weapons and power-reactor plutonium] . "Nature" 283, pp. 817-823.] . Friends of the Earth Australia responded: "Lovelock's claim that nuclear power plants cannot be used for weapons production is false, irresponsible and dangerous. A typical nuclear power reactor produces about 300 kilograms of plutonium each year, enough for 30 nuclear weapons".

Climate and mass human mortality

Writing in the British newspaper "The Independent" in January 2006, Lovelock argues that, as a result of global warming, "billions of us will die and the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable" by the end of the 21st century [http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article338830.ece The Earth is about to catch a morbid fever that may last as long as 100,000 years] , James Lovelock, "The Independent", 16 January 2006. Retrieved 4 October 2007.] . He has been quoted in "The Guardian" that 80% of humans will perish by 2100 AD, and this climate change will last 100,000 years.

He further predicts, the average temperature in temperate regions will increase by as much as 8°C and by up to 5°C in the tropics, leaving much of the world's land uninhabitable and unsuitable for farming, with northerly migrations and new cities created in the Arctic. He predicts much of Europe will become uninhabitable having turned to desert and Britain will become Europe's "life-raft" due to Britain's stable temperature from being surrounded by the ocean. He suggests that "we have to keep in mind the awesome pace of change and realise how little time is left to act, and then each community and nation must find the best use of the resources they have to sustain civilisation for as long as they can".

He partly retreated from this position in a September 2007 address to the World Nuclear Association's Annual Symposium, suggesting that climate change would stabilise and prove survivable, and that the Earth itself is in "no danger" because it would stabilise in a new state. Life, however, might be forced to migrate "en masse" to remain in habitable climes [ [http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/energyEnvironment/Lovelock_Respect_the_Earth_060709.shtml Lovelock: "Respect the Earth"] , "World Nuclear News", 6 September 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2007.] .

Ocean Pipes proposal

In September 2007, Lovelock and Chris Rapley proposed the construction of ocean pipes "100 to 200 metres long, 10 metres in diameter and with a one-way flap valve at the lower end for pumping by wave movement" to pump water up from below the thermocline to "fertilize algae in the surface waters and encourage them to bloom" [Lovelock, J.E. and Rapley, C.G. (2007). [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7161/full/449403a.html Ocean pipes could help the Earth to cure itself] . "Nature" 449, 403.] . The intention of this scheme is to accelerate the transfer of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the ocean by increasing primary production and enhancing the export of organic carbon (as marine snow) to the deep ocean. The idea is theoretical, and the authors note that it "may fail, perhaps on engineering or economic grounds", and that "the impact on ocean acidification will need to be taken into account".

The proposal attracted widespread media attention [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article2538897.ece Scientists propose 'plumbing' method to solve crisis of global warming] , Lewis Smith, "The Times", 26 September 2007. Retrieved 3 October 2007.] [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/09/26/sciwater126.xml James Lovelock's plan to pump ocean water to stop climate change] , Roger Highfield, "The Daily Telegraph", 26 September 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2007.] [ [http://environment.independent.co.uk/climate_change/article3001626.ece Pipes hung in the sea could help planet to 'heal itself'] , Michael McCarthy, "The Independent", 27 September 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2007.] [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/sep/27/climatechange How sea tubes could slow climate change] , Alok Jha, "The Guardian", 27 September 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2007.] , although also criticism [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,,2180616,00.html Cold water on global warming plans] , Phillip Williamson, "The Guardian", 1 October 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2007.] [ [http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/johann_hari/article3024703.ece The last green taboo: engineering the planet] , Johann Hari, "The Independent", 4 October 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2007.] Shepherd, J.G., Inglesias-Rodriguez, D. and Yool, A. (2007). [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7164/full/449781a.html Geo-engineering might cause, not cure, problems] . "Nature" 449, 781.] . Commenting on the proposal, Corinne Le Quéré, a University of East Anglia researcher, said "It doesn’t make sense. There is absolutely no evidence that geoengineering options work or even go in the right direction. I’m astonished that they published this. Before any geoengineering is put to work a massive amount of research is needed – research which will take 20 to 30 years". Other researchers have claimed that "this scheme would bring water with high natural "p"CO₂ levels (associated with the nutrients) back to the surface, potentially causing exhalation of CO₂".

A similar scheme to that proposed by Lovelock and Rapley is already being developed by a commercial company [ [http://www.atmocean.com/sequestration.htm Biological Ocean Sequestration of CO2 Using Atmocean Upwelling] , Atmocean. Retrieved 3 October 2007.] .

Books

* cite book

last = Lovelock | first = James
title = Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth
origyear =1979
edition = 3rd ed.
year = 2000
publisher = Oxford University Press
id = ISBN 0-19-286218-9

* cite book

last = Lovelock | first = James
title = Great Extinction
year = 1983
coauthors = Michael Allaby
publisher = Doubleday
id = ISBN 0-385-18011-X

* cite book

last = Lovelock | first = James
title = The Greening of Mars
year = 1984
coauthors = Michael Allaby
publisher = Warner Books
id = ISBN 0-446-32967-3

* cite book

last = Lovelock | first = James
title = Ages of Gaia
origyear = 1988
year = 1995
publisher = Oxford University Press
id = ISBN 0-393-31239-9

* cite book

last = Lovelock | first = James
title = Gaia: The Practical Science of Planetary Medicine
origyear = Gaia Books 1991
publisher = Oxford University Press US
year = 2001
id = ISBN 0-19-521674-1

* cite book

last = Lovelock | first = James
title = Scientists on Gaia
year = 1991
publisher = MIT Press
location = Cambridge, Mass., USA
id = ISBN 0-262-19310-8

* cite book

last = Lovelock | first = James
title = Gaia: Medicine for an Ailing Planet
publisher = Gaia Books
year = 2005
id = ISBN 1-85675-231-3

* cite book

last = Lovelock | first = James
title = Homage to Gaia: The Life of an Independent Scientist
publisher = Oxford University Press
year = 2000
id = ISBN 0-19-860429-7 "(Lovelock's autobiography)"

* cite book

last = Lovelock | first = James
title = The Revenge of Gaia: Why the Earth Is Fighting Back - and How We Can Still Save Humanity
publisher = Allen Lane
location = Santa Barbara (California)
year = 2006
id = ISBN 0-7139-9914-4

References

External links

* [http://www.jameslovelock.org/ James Lovelock's personal website]
* [http://www.ecolo.org/lovelock/ James Lovelock index page by Environmentalists For Nuclear Energy]
* [http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article338879.ece "Why Gaia is wreaking revenge on our abuse of the environment": Article about Lovelock published in the 'Independent']
* [http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article61727.ece "Nuclear power is the only green solution": Lovelock article published in the 'Independent']
* [http://www.ecolo.org/lovelock/ Friends of James Lovelock]
* [http://www.ecolo.org/lovelock/lovedeten.htm Biography of James Lovelock]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/belief/scripts/james_lovelock.html BBC Radio interview transcript from Belief series in 2003]
* [http://www.nuclearspin.org/index.php/James_Lovelock Nuclear Spin page examining Lovelock's history]
* [http://www.transhumanist.com/volume4/space.htm evaluates Lovelock's terraforming proposal]

Interviews

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2008/mar/01/scienceofclimatechange.climatechange Enjoy life while you can] , Decca Aitkenhead, The Guardian, March 1, 2008.
* [http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/event.asp?month=10&id=7142 Climate Change on the Living Earth] , Public lecture by James Lovelock, The Royal Society, October 29, 2007.
* [http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/16956300/the_prophet_of_climate_change_james_lovelock/print The Prophet of Climate Change] , Jeff Goodell, "Rolling Stone", October 17, 2007.
* [http://www.creelcommission.com/interviews.php?action=show&id=5&title=Reflections+on+meeting+James+Lovelock&date=26-08-2005: Creel Commission: reflections on meeting James Lovelock and a recent interview with him]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/3937609.stm Is the future nuclear? BBC News HardTalk Interview] (30 minute RealVideo from July 2004)
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4064231,00.html The whole world in our hands, Guardian Interview from September 2000]
* [http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R609130900 Radio interview with James Lovelock] , KQED San Francisco, September 13, 2006
* [http://environment.guardian.co.uk/ethicalliving/story/0,,2034370,00.html 'We should be scared stiff'] , "The Guardian", March 15, 2007
* [http://download.guardian.co.uk/sys-audio/Guardian/Science/2006/12/04/ScienceExtra041206.mp3 Audio interview] from "The Guardian", December 4, 2006
* [http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/media/science/episode-6-lovelock.ram Audio interview] from "Ideas: [http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/features/science/index.html How to think about science] ", Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, January 2, 2008. ( [http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/media/science/episode-6-lovelock.ram Real Audio] )
* "Portraits Parlés" by Ariane Laroux : Interview and portrait of Jim Lovelock, éditions of L'Age d'homme (2008)