The Gaia Principle

 

It ain’t so popular in our take-control world but from time immemorial a theory has intruded itself that says the Earth is a living entity. It’s called the Gaia Principle -- Gaia being from the Greek meaning Earth -- and it sees our dear Blue Planet as a self-contained ecosystem. This makes some sense when you consider that life on the Earth has been humming along in balance for a good number of years. Until recently, the climates were fairly stable, the temperature constant, as was the salinity of the oceans.

Of course, after a coupla dozen billion years, it probably wouldn’t have be so stable. We have this molten core that eventually will chill out and there’s Ole Sol around which we evolve that contributes mightily to our environmental well-being, in addition to producing all of our weather. And suns eventually burn out.

Over the last number of years, however, Man has done the unthinkable. He has messed with the balance of Nature. You’d think this puny creature would be impotent in such matters, but that would ignore the evidence presented by every credible scientist that we have beclouded the atmosphere, causing the polar ice caps to melt and the seas to rise.

Our pollution has caused global warming and other thoughtless activities like running the population up to seven billion people have changed the well-tuned natural system that has been our ecosphere for several billion years. Our pattern of greed and ignorance have put life as we know it here in peril.

Which brings us to Gaia. Just as the human body fixes itself in so many instances, the Earth may well repair the damage done by blindness and willful stupidity. Gaia could quickly reduce the number of people, for instance, through some good plagues. Hurricanes and other violent weather could maybe knock some sense into our heads. The Earth ain’t going away, but if we don’t wake up, we might.

And that’s SetonnoteS...I’m Tony Seton.

 

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