Paradigm that living organisms interact with their surroundings in a self-regulating system
For other uses of "Gaia", see Gaia (disambiguation).
Part of a series on
Rights of nature
Movements and schools of thought
Earth jurisprudence
Deep ecology
Wild law
Environmental personhood
Traditional worldviews
Ubuntu
Pachamama
Sumak Kawsay
Scholars and authors
Thomas Berry
Cormac Cullinan
Aldo Leopold
John Muir
Roderick Nash
Vandana Shiva
Other
Animal rights
Gaia hypothesis
Rights of nature law
v
t
e
The Gaia hypothesis (/ˈɡaɪ.ə/), also known as the Gaia theory, Gaia paradigm, or the Gaia principle, proposes that living organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on Earth to form a synergistic and self-regulating, complex system that helps to maintain and perpetuate the conditions for life on the planet.
The Gaia hypothesis was formulated by the chemist James Lovelock[1] and co-developed by the microbiologist Lynn Margulis in the 1970s.[2] Following the suggestion by his neighbour, novelist William Golding, Lovelock named the hypothesis after Gaia, the primordial deity who personified the Earth in Greek mythology. In 2006, the Geological Society of London awarded Lovelock the Wollaston Medal in part for his work on the Gaia hypothesis.[3]
Topics related to the hypothesis include how the biosphere and the evolution of organisms affect the stability of global temperature, salinity of seawater, atmospheric oxygen levels, the maintenance of a hydrosphere of liquid water and other environmental variables that affect the habitability of Earth.
The Gaia hypothesis was initially criticized for being teleological and against the principles of natural selection, but later refinements aligned the Gaia hypothesis with ideas from fields such as Earth system science, biogeochemistry and systems ecology.[4][5][6] Even so, the Gaia hypothesis continues to attract criticism, and today many scientists consider it to be only weakly supported by, or at odds with, the available evidence.[7][8][9][10]
^Cite error: The named reference J1972 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Lovelock, J.E.; Margulis, L. (1974). "Atmospheric homeostasis by and for the biosphere: the gaia hypothesis". Tellus A. 26 (1–2): 2–10. Bibcode:1974Tell...26....2L. doi:10.3402/tellusa.v26i1-2.9731. S2CID 129803613.
^"Wollaston Award Lovelock". Retrieved 19 October 2015.
^Cite error: The named reference Turney, Jon 2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Schwartzman, David (2002). Life, Temperature, and the Earth: The Self-Organizing Biosphere. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-10213-1.
^Gribbin, John (1990), "Hothouse earth: The greenhouse effect and Gaia" (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
^Kirchner, James W. (2002), "Toward a future for Gaia theory", Climatic Change, 52 (4): 391–408, doi:10.1023/a:1014237331082, S2CID 15776141
^Volk, Tyler (2002), "The Gaia hypothesis: fact, theory, and wishful thinking", Climatic Change, 52 (4): 423–430, doi:10.1023/a:1014218227825, S2CID 32856540
^Beerling, David (2007). The Emerald Planet: How plants changed Earth's history. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280602-4.
^Tyrrell, Toby (2013), On Gaia: A Critical Investigation of the Relationship between Life and Earth, Princeton: Princeton University Press, ISBN 9780691121581
The Gaiahypothesis (/ˈɡaɪ.ə/), also known as the Gaia theory, Gaia paradigm, or the Gaia principle, proposes that living organisms interact with their...
The Gaiahypothesis holds that all organisms on a life-giving planet regulate the biosphere in such a way as to promote its habitability. Gaia concepts...
given state. In ecology the concept is important as an element of the Gaiahypothesis, where the system under consideration is the ecological balance of...
environmentalist and futurist. He is best known for proposing the Gaiahypothesis, which postulates that the Earth functions as a self-regulating system...
important women in science. Margulis was also the co-developer of the Gaiahypothesis with the British chemist James Lovelock, proposing that the Earth functions...
in a paper published in 1983 to illustrate the plausibility of the Gaiahypothesis. In the original 1983 version, Daisyworld is seeded with two varieties...
anomalies in orbital evolution, including a faint young Sun paradox. The Gaiahypothesis holds that biological processes work to maintain a stable surface climate...
in the Gaiahypothesis for much of his career. Early in his career, in the journal Nature, Lenton addressed a concern that the Gaiahypothesis was incompatible...
surrounding the nuclear industry – and by the implications of the Gaiahypothesis of environmentalist James Lovelock; these combined to him writing a...
superorganism and that its proper study should be physiology.: 10 The Gaiahypothesis, proposed in the 1960s by James Lovelock, suggests that life on Earth...
The Gaiahypothesis has also been viewed by Lynn Margulis and others as an extension of endosymbiosis and exosymbiosis. This modified hypothesis postulates...
movement as a whole. Gaianism's philosophy stems from James Lovelock's Gaiahypothesis, which proposes that organisms interact with their surroundings on...
name Gaia (Γαῖα; Ancient Greek: [ɡâi̯.a] or [ɡâj.ja]) is rare, though the alternative spelling Gaia has become common due to the Gaiahypothesis, in which...
of geology", to refer to Earth in the context of geophysiology. The Gaiahypothesis of James Lovelock, and Lynn Margulis as well as the work of Hutton...
October 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2009. "The Medea Hypothesis: A response to the Gaiahypothesis". Christian Science Monitor (book review). 12 February...
planetary scale: for example, the Gaiahypothesis is an example of holism applied in ecological theory. The Gaiahypothesis states that there is an emergent...
anyone who dares to "desecrate it". Gayathri deduces his view as the GaiaHypothesis - that the Earth itself is a single, self-regulating organism, while...
matriarchal religion. Some find a connection between earth-worship and the Gaiahypothesis. Earth religions are also formulated to allow one to utilize the knowledge...
such, the CLAW hypothesis posits an example of planetary-scale homeostasis or complex adaptive system, consistent with the Gaiahypothesis framed by one...
James Lovelock advanced views on earth as a macro-organism with the Gaiahypothesis. Conservation stemmed from the science of ecology. Important figures...
[citation needed] Geology portal Paleontology portal World portal Europa Gaiahypothesis Global catastrophic risks Great Unconformity Interglacial and stadial...
upon his Gaiahypothesis, wherein he sees Earth's systems as well as the organisms on it as one cooperating superorganism. This system, Gaia, regulates...
portal Mythology portal Amalur Atabey (goddess) Ecofeminism Father Time Gaiahypothesis Jörð Mother goddess Pantheism Prakṛti "Palaeolexicon – The Linear B...
urbanization and urban sprawl. Theories like the world-system theory and the Gaiahypothesis focus on the inter-dependency aspect of environmental and economic...
a consequence of the Gaiahypothesis. The Gaiahypothesis holds that the entire earth may be considered a single organism (Gaia). As a self-maintaining...
planet. English scientist James Lovelock served as an advisor and his Gaiahypothesis of planet evolution was incorporated into the game. Versions were made...
the Chinese School of Naturalists, Taoism, and Neo-Confucianism. GaiaGaiahypothesis Human condition Pachamama Panpsychism Plastic Principle Pneuma (in...