THE GAIA HYPOTHESIS

THE EARTH A SINGLE LIVING ORGANISM

1. INTRODUCTION
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Following their scientific research for evidence of life on Mars as part of a NASA program,
British chemist James Lovelock and his team predicted that the space missions to Mars
would find no sign of living organisms on our neighbouring planet.

Their prediction was based on the analysis of the chemical composition of the atmospheres
of Mars and the Earth. The Martian atmosphere was in a state of dead chemical equilibrium
with CO2 as its predominant compound, as opposed to the Earth’s with its unlikely balance
of atmospheric gases. Lovelock concluded that the Earth’s atmosphere would be very
different without life, much like that of Mars.

He became preoccupied with the question of how this balance was being preserved. The
research of Lovelock and American microbiologist Lynn Margulis eventually led to the
formulation of the Gaia hypothesis.

2. GAIA

The gaseous composition of the Earth appearing to be in a constant state suggested some

form of planetary regulation and that the balance was being maintained thanks to the
existence of living organisms and therefore complex biological processes.

Lovelock initially suggested that this state was being maintained by the biota, but has
broadened the concept and applied it to the entire planetary system.

The Gaia hypothesis suggests the Earth is a living organism with the capacity to regulate and
repair any imbalance that may arise in its natural terrestrial systems.

“Living matter, air, oceans and land surface can form a complex system which can be seen as
a single organism and which has the capacity to keep our planet a fit place for life.”

(Lovelock, J., 2000)

Any excesses are regulated by negative feedback mechanisms which depend on biological
activity: it is a form of active control – life responds by changing its abiotic environment
through natural processes such as growth and metabolism. They regulate the Earth’s
environment in their favour and thus the planet acts as a single, coherent system, an
assemblage of natural forces interacting to preserve conditions necessary for life on Earth to
flourish.

Lovelock was careful to present a hypothesis which did not claim that the Earth's biological
systems act consciously or intentionally to maintain the complex balance between life on
Earth and its environment.
 The idea that the Earth is a single living organism is not as new to science, let alone ancient
peoples traditions, as one might think. After all, the hypothesis was named after the Earth
goddess of the ancient Greek.

James Hutton, the father of geology, has described the Earth as a superogranism. Medical
doctor and writer Lewis Thomas stated that: Page | 2

“Viewed from the distance of the moon, the astonishing thing about the Earth, catching the
breath, is that it is alive. The photographs show the dry, pounded surface of the moon in the
foreground, dry as an old bone. Aloft, floating free beneath the moist, gleaming, membrane
of bright blue sky, is the rising Earth, the only exuberant thing in this part of the cosmos. If
you could look long enough, you would see the swirling of the great drifts of white cloud,
covering and uncovering the half-hidden masses of land. If you had been looking for a very
long, geologic time, you could have seen the continents themselves in motion, drifting apart
on their crustal plates, held afloat by the fire beneath. It has the organized, self-contained
look of a live creature, full of information, marvellously skilled in handling the sun.”

(Thomas, L., 1974)

A useful analogy that has been suggested for understanding the ideas behind Gaia is the
California redwood tree: it may grow up to 300 feet, weigh 2000 tons and yet 97% of its
tissues are dead. Only a small rim of cells along the periphery of the trunk is living. The
lifeless matter of the tree is similar to the Earth’s abiotic environment which protects the
thin layer of living organisms spread out over it.

And not unlike homeostasis in the human body, the internal temperature of the closed
system that the Earth forms is kept constant by self-adjusting mechanisms in living
organisms. These automatically operated feedback processes enable Earth to maintain the
conditions needed for the survival of its life forms. The vast diversity of life on Earth
coevolves and contributes interactively to produce and sustain the perfect conditions
needed for growth, acting together upon the larger whole.

3. ARGUMENTS AND DISCUSSION

The Gaia hypothesis has met with both dismissive and constructive criticism from the
scientific community and still provokes lively discussion thanks to which Lovelock is able to
continuously refine, develop and bring new evidence for his ideas.

James Kirchner has suggested that the Gaia hypothesis is better viewed as a collection of
hypotheses, allowing for a more suitable working definition of terms.

While the teleological and optimizing hypotheses may not have the support of critics and
scientists, the co-evolutionary and homeostatic aspects of the Gaia hypothesis have sparked
debates that draw significant attention to the interactions between organic and inorganic
life. The idea that Earth’s living organisms play a significant role in maintaining global
homeostasis is largely supported.
 Page | 3

(http://www.mountainman.com.au/gaia_jim.html)

Evidence confirming this hypothesis includes:

a.) the circulation of atmospheric gases and the unlikely balance maintained in the
Earth’s atmosphere:

 the oxygen cycle (kept in balance through the process of photosynthesis and
therefore regulated by living organisms)

 the nitrogen cycle (owing its equilibrium to denitrifying bacteria and

therefore dependent on the biota)

 the carbon cycle (the circulation of carbon involves interaction with living
organisms and their surrounding environment : atmospheric carbon is used
by plants for photosynthesis, the carbon compounds produced by the plants
are passed along in the food chain and the carbon eventually returns to the
atmosphere by respiration, natural combustion or decay. Carbon dioxide
dissolved in water molecules forms carbonic acid and calcium carbonate,
which accumulates in sediments. Dead aquatic organisms end up on the
bottom of the ocean and undergo lithification and weathering and volcanic
eruptions allow carbon trapped in rocks to be released back into the
atmosphere.)
  the carbon dioxide cycle:
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PHOTOSYNTHESIS

b.) the fact that the average temperatures on Earth have been relatively constant in
a narrow range for the last 3.6 billion years (long-term global homeostasis)

c.) the continuous presence of essential elements or chemical building blocks on the
planet

d.) early life ‘establishing’ oxygen in the atmosphere:

 stromatolites (early life forms capable of photosynthesis) appeared and

began absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere

e.) adequate levels of oxygen over the last few billion years

 the activity of the stromatolites lead to large concentrations of oxygen in the

atmosphere, which reacted with the iron in the sea. When the excess
amounts could no longer be absorbed, they led to wildfires which created
more carbon dioxide and regulated oxygen levels in the atmosphere.

f.) there has been no significant water loss through super-heating

g.) everything on Earth gets naturally recycled in biogeochemical systems

h.) cloud-algae theory (homeostasis by albedo)

 albedo refers to the ability of matter to absorb (dark areas such as

mountains and forests) or reflect (light areas such as deserts, clouds and ice)
light. Abiotic factors such as the interaction of the ocean with the
atmosphere, rain shadow effect and weather fronts are known to play a key
role in the cloud cover over the planet. While more research is needed to
 investigate the phenomenon, marine life may very well be responsible for
the release of cloud-condensation nuclei: phytoplankton (coccolithophorids)
release trace quantities of dimethyl sulphide, which leads to the formation
of clouds. The cycle that arises is shown in the diagram below:
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Phytoplankton may
regulate the Earth’s
temperature through
their responses to abiotic
factors.

i.) living organisms play a key role in soil making (lithification)

 Terrestrial rocks (e.g., the badlands of South Dakota) are a series of soils
formed on overbank deposits and so, being soils, most of the structure is
biologically determined.

 Level bottom marine habitats with soft sediments deeper than wave base,
have sediment entirely made by the biota. Wherever waves affect things
sedimentology plays a role, but not in any fine grained sediment -- these in
rocks are fine limestones and shales. Thus the structure of most marine
rocks is biologically determined.

(http://www.fossilmuseum.net/paleo/paleoposts/GAIA-theory/gaia-
theory.htm)

j.) plate tectonics

 for this process to occur, tectonic plates must be able to cool and subduct.
Early Earth’s high temperatures due to large concentrations of atmospheric
carbon dioxide meant the process could not take place and that the planet
was suppressing subduction much like Venus is today. With the appearance
of photosynthesising organisms, the temperature of the planet was
regulated and plate tectonics became operational, being part of a cycle that
 provides living organisms with fresh and mineral rich soil (which surfaces
through volcanic eruptions), aiding them in their growth and evolution.

k.) Daisyworld

 Lovelock developed a mathematical model to show that living organisms can

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actually influence their environment unintentionally or unconsciously.
Daisyworld is a hypothetical planet populated only by black and white
daisies that only depend on changes in temperature (they need relatively
stable temperatures to grow and survive). The daisies are able to regulate
the temperature on Daisyworld through albedo: black daisies absorb heat
from the Sun, white daisies reflect it back. Assuming we ‘start out’ with
equal amounts of black and white daisies, the black daisies will be favoured
very soon and the white ones die as they are able to capture less of the
Sun’s energy which they need to survive. With the predominance of black
daisies, the planet warms up, temperatures rise. As the Sun becomes older
however, it gets warmer and brighter and the global temperature rises
beyond the limit that the daisies can survive in. Thus, natural selection will
start to favour white daisies which begin to predominate. The global
temperature drops and white daisies continue to flourish until the planet
becomes so hot due to the ever warmer Sun that all daisies die out.

 Although the model is a basic, simplified version of the relationships

between the organic and inorganic components of an Earth-like planet, it
does show how life influences its environment.

(http://www.mountainman.com.au/gaia_jim.html)

Arguments that have been suggested against the Gaia hypothesis include:

a.) the selfish behaviour of individual organisms or species:

  there seems to be no mechanism through which the processes for
cooperation between species for the good of the larger whole may have
evolved and that the seemingly altruistic behaviour of life forms may
actually be for selfish reasons. This however does not seem a valid argument
if we were to consider that perhaps no biological mechanism was necessary
for organisms to develop such behaviour and that it may simply be a Page | 7
property of the interaction processes between the biota and their
environment. Much like the cells of a human body, the living organisms do
not act consciously for the good of the larger whole, yet that is the effect.
The mathematical model Daisyworld in which organisms do act in a selfish
manner proves that selfish behaviour is not a valid argument.

b.) the uncertainty as to whether marine life actually influences the formation of
clouds and therefore regulates the temperature of the Earth

 even if this were to be proven incorrect, it does not disprove the hypothesis
itself

c.) Gaia’s inability to reproduce

 it has been suggested that should Gaia be a single living organism, as all
biological life it should be able to reproduce and replicate herself

 this argument is not compelling enough as we are not looking at Gaia in the
same manner as we would look at a member of a species. Lovelock’s idea is
one in which every being on the planet acts in synchronicity and forms a
system and should be seen as more of a metaphor

 even if Gaia were similar to a member of a species (say, of life-harbouring

planets), how can we know with certainty whether she has or has not
reproduced and replicated herself in the past or will do so in the future?

4. CONCLUSIONS

The problem with the Gaia hypothesis from a scientific viewpoint is that we cannot devise an
experiment to prove or disprove it directly.

Although the Gaia hypothesis has met with strong critique and even disapproval from the
scientific community, the real question is not whether the hypothesis is true, but rather why
it so appeals to human consciousness (it is still generating lively debates) and how the
concept can be applied to many disciplines and inter-disciplinary issues, yielding new and
useful information.

The Gaia hypothesis suggests that the abiotic and biotic environments are linked through a
plethora of complex, delicate interrelationships. It stirs us to ask many questions regarding
the symbiosis of biological, geological, chemical and physical processes on Earth and
suggests that we, as conscious beings, with the capacity to observe and (clearly) influence
our environment, need to become more aware of and responsible for our actions and their
impact on the planet.

Should the hypothesis be proven true and the Earth be collectively seen as a single, self-
regulating organism, we have no reason to believe it will not adjust to the changes brought
about by mankind. This adjustment however may happen at the expense of our species, Page | 8
much like the apparition of photosynthetic organisms lead to the exclusion of anaerobic life.

“The creative process of nature is consistently to refine, to diversify and produce higher
forms of organic systems — to use a metaphor from human experience — to raise
consciousness (consciousness as integration of higher levels of connectedness).”

(Bartholomew, A., 2003)

As Gaia always moves forward, her life forms constantly evolve, diversify and grow. Once a
species breaks the chain and acts against her, the others will, intentionally or not, move on
as the odd one out is left behind.

“You may find it hard to swallow the notion that anything as large and apparently inanimate
as the Earth is alive. Surely, you may say, the Earth is almost wholly rock, and nearly all
incandescent with heat. The difficulty can be lessened if you let the image of a giant
redwood tree enter your mind. The tree undoubtedly is alive, yet 99% of it is dead. The great
tree is an ancient spire of dead wood, made of lignin and cellulose by the ancestors of the
thin layer of living cells which constitute its bark. How like the Earth, and more so when we
realize that many of the atoms of the rocks far down into the magma were once part of the
ancestral life of which we all have come.”

(Lovelock, J., 2000)

“The root question of Gaia's critics and a central point in his theory concerns the difference
between a planetary environment which might only be the aggregate result of myriad
independent life forms coevolving and sharing the same host, and one which is ultimately
created by life forms deployed, so to speak, to accomplish the purpose of the larger being. Is
the idea of Gaia only a romantic and dramatized description of the terrestrial biosphere and
its effects, or is there a planetary being, whose life cycle must be counted in the billions of
years, which spawns these evolving life forms to suit the purpose of its being. Do our kidney
cells ask each other these sorts of questions? While your white blood cells thrive and
reproduce, going about their business, they are indisputably serving the life of the larger
body which you use, though whatever consciousness they experience in their realm is
certainly far from that which you, the larger being, the whole, experience.

Perhaps there is awareness appropriate at every level. Perhaps that is a property of life.”

(Miller, S., 1989)

5. REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Miller, S., 1989. Gaia Hypothesis. Available from

http://erg.ucd.ie/arupa/references/gaia.html [retrieved 25 October 2010]

 Lovelock, J., 2000. The Ages of Gaia. 5th ed. Oxford University Press.
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 th
Lovelock, J., 2000. Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth. 5 ed. Oxford
University Press.

 Bartholomew, A., 2003. Hidden Nature: The Startling Insights of Viktor

Schauberger. 2005 ed. Adventures Unlimited Press

 Thomas, L., 1974. The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher. Bantam
Books

 Chamberlin, S. The Gaia Hypothesis. Available from

www.bibliotecapleyades.net/gaia/esp_gaia01.htm [retrieved 10 October
2010]

 Robert Drachuk et al., The Gaia Hypothesis. Uncle Darwin's Desktop, The
Virtual Fossil Museum. Available from
http://www.fossilmuseum.net/paleo/paleoposts/GAIA-theory/gaia-
theory.htm [retrieved 10 October 2010]

 Brown, ?, 1996. The Gaia Hypothesis: proposed by Dr James Lovelock & Dr

Lynn Margulis. Mountain Man Graphics, Australia. Available from
http://www.mountainman.com.au/gaia_jim.html [retrieved 25 October
2010]