Gaia Hypothesis

Gaia Hypothesis

1. An idea proposed by James Lovelock (published in 1979), it says that:

   • All living things on earth (biosphere) function as one Superorganism that changes its environment to create conditions that best meet its needs, with the ability to self-regulate critical systems needed to sustain life

2. EVIDENCES THAT EARTH REGULATES ITSELF

   • -Surface Temperature – has remained constant despite the energy increase by the Sun
   • -Atmospheric Composition – remains constant even though it should be unstable
   • -Ocean Salinity – remains constant despite the fact that river salts should have raised the ocean salinity much higher

3. The 4 systems that sustain life are:

   • Biosphere (living things)
   • Hydrosphere (all water on earth’s surface)
   • Atmosphere (air)
   • Lithosphere (soil)

4. System Earth:

   • All ingredients (water, gases, and chemical nutrients) exist on Earth in limited amounts and all ingredients (water, gases, and chemical nutrients) exist on Earth in limited amounts

5. HISTORICAL CLIMATE CHANGE • Earth’s climate change a lot in the past 4 billion years • It could warm significantly in the future, due to atmospheric pollution, and it could have become more extreme.

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