We can’t save the planet says Lovelock?

Enjoy life while you can

Professor James Lovelock, the scientist who developed Gaia theory, said it was too late to try and save the planet, according to a BBC Today interview with John Humphrys.

Lovelock, who achieved global fame for his theory that the whole earth is a single organism,  now believes that we can only hope that the earth will take care of itself in the face of completely unpredictable climate change.

He said that while the earth’s future was utterly uncertain, mankind was not aware it had “pulled the trigger” on global warming as it built its civilizations.

What was more, he predicted, the earth’s climate would not conveniently comply with the models of modern climate scientists.

As record winter temperatures testified, he said, global temperatures moved in “jerks and jumps”, and we could not confidently predict what the future held.

Prof Lovelock did not pull his punches on the politicians and scientists who were set to gain from the idea that we could predict climate change and save the planet ourselves.

Scientists, he said, have moved from investigating nature as a vocation, to being caught in a career path where it made sense to “fudge the data”.

And while renewable energy technology may make good business sense, he said, it was not based on “good practical engineering”.

At the age of 90, Prof Lovelock is resigned to his own fate and the fate of the planet. Whether the planet saves itself or not, he argues, all we can do is to “enjoy life while you can”.

Photo and further information from: www.ecolo.org/lovelock/lovebioen.htm