Global warming: Is it too late to save our planet?
GLOBAL warming is irreversible and billions of
people will die over the next century, one of the world's leading climate change
scientists claimed yesterday. Professor James Lovelock, the scientist who
developed the Gaia principle (that Earth is a self-regulating, interconnected
system), claimed that by the year 2100 the only place where humans will be able
to survive will be the Arctic.
Global warming is irreversible and billions of people will die over the next century, one of the world’s leading climate change scientists claimed yesterday. Professor James Lovelock, the scientist who developed the Gaia principle (that Earth is a self-regulating, interconnected system), claimed that by the year 2100 the only place where humans will be able to survive will be the Arctic.
“Our planet has kept itself healthy and fit for life, just like an animal does, for most of the more than three billion years of its existence,” he writes.
“Much of the tropical land mass will become scrub and desert; before this century is over billions of us will die and the few breeding pairs that survive will be in the Arctic, where the climate remains tolerable.”
The scientist says he has been loathe to write such a depressing book: “I’m usually a cheerful sod, so I’m not happy about writing doom books. But I don’t see any easy way out.”
Lovelock’s wakeup call is followed by a number of comments from reputable peers, pro and con. All well above TV talking-head levels of discussion. Certain to be ignored by politicians who care more for inertia than investigation.
Posted: Tue - January 17, 2006 at 10:10 AM