Man is only part of a powerful system, the earth – the revolutionary thoughts of the researcher and inventor James Lovelock were the basis for the green movement. The Brit warned early on about climate change. Now he dies at the age of 103.
British scientist James Lovelock, co-creator of the so-called Gaia hypothesis, died on his 103rd birthday. British media reported on Wednesday evening, citing the researcher’s family, whose ideas formed a basis for the green movement. Lovelock died Tuesday night in the presence of family members at his home in Dorset, southwest England.
The Gaia theory is considered an important contribution to ecology. It states that the earth functions as a self-regulating organism made up of all of its life forms. “Many people think that our most important task is to save the planet, but that is certainly presumptuous,” Lovelock once said. We are a powerful species, but part of an even more powerful system. Rather, our most important task is to save ourselves – associated with this is the responsibility for the living beings and ecosystems of the earth, on which our lives are based.
Born in 1919, the chemist, biophysicist and physician worked as a freelance scientist for the US space agency NASA in the 1960s. He later proved that man-made chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) had already spread throughout the atmosphere. The Briton warned early on about the consequences of climate change.
The Guardian newspaper said Lovelock’s discoveries had “an immense impact on our understanding of humanity’s global impact and on the search for extraterrestrial life.” But he was criticized by other ecologists for his support for nuclear power and fracking.
