4 ~ Sunday, April 18, 1993 — North Shore News sala: we are tI WHEN JAMES Lovelock’s Gaia Hypothesis first appeared in print, in 1972, as a brief paper in a scientific magazine, it was limited to the suggestion that the existence of an atmosphere meant there was life on a planet. While working with the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Dr. Lovelock had discovered similarities in the at- mosphere of Venus and Mars. The most startling parallel: both are composed mainly of carbon diox- ide, which means that everything on euch of their surfaces is ox- idized. No organic matter survives whatsoever. When he applied the same kind of scientific analysis to Earth as he had to Venus and Mars, Lovelock discovered more astonishing anomalies. Instead of being overwhelmingly composed of C02, Earth’s at- mosphere is a volatile — in fact, ‘tinherently reactive’? — mix of -over 40 biogenic gases. This unstable and illogical at- mospheric concoction has manag- ed to remain in the same weird chemical balance for a billion years. The C02 concentration is less than half of 1%, while the other concentrations of elements are relatively enormous. Given the same chemical make- up at the beginning of their his- tories, some 4.5 billion years ago, ‘the three planets ought (o have evolved — at Icast, if you view things mechanically — in roughly the same direction. But no, the Earth’s atmosphere, by comparison with the other two, is a crazed chemical! cocktail. {t has far too much methane (by more than 36 orders of magnitude), nitrous oxides, am- monia and nitrogen. There is nothing in physics or chemistry to predict this witch’s brew or ex- plain its amazing durability.” Left to their own devices, in a closed atmosphere mixed with ’ massive dosages of oxygen, these other chemicals should all have ‘ , broken down into miniscule traces. ‘avery longtime ago. Why didn’t they? Tie answer — Lovelock’s major insight — is that these elements ail interact strongly with life, bacterial life in ° particular.: . 7 As Lynn Margulis, who worked closely with Lovelock to develop the hypothesis, puts it: ‘‘Like the honey or wax of a beehive, the Earth’s atmosphere wee IS largely a byproduct of life.’’ It. wasn’t until 1982 that. _ Lovelock and Margulis came out + with their definitive summary of the Gaia Hypothesis, which states “that the temperature and com- position of the Earth’s atmosphere are actively regulated by the sum '._ of life on the planet.” ‘ Biology and chemistry, they noted, are inextricably linked. “' From bacteria to Douglas firs, ‘phytoplankton to moose, all or- _'ganisms modify their environ- _ ment. As they get rid of wastes, cyanabacteria, for instance, pro- duce oxygen. a Planktonic algae release sulphide gases that seed the at- mosphere with particles that lead to cloud formation. ’Earthworms and brachiopeds | change the properties of the sedi- ment through which they wriggle. “Bach organism interacts with ‘its local environment. Each organ-- ism requires the activities of other STRICTLY PERSONAL organisms not only far obtaining water, minerals, nutrients and food, but also for removing its solid, liquid and gaseous wastes,"” wrote Margulis. So far, we have managed to distinguish 30 million different types of organisms on Earth (this may underestimate the number of living species by a factor of 100 or more). Each and every one of these life forms — known collec- tively as the planet's biota — “Teaves an imprint on the com- position of the atmosphere,” as Lovelock described it. The Earth is alive because life creates the chemical conditions for itself, and somehow maintains them, even though this involves constant adjustments in temperature, acidity, alkalinity and chemical combinations. The key point of the Gaia Hypothesis is that this balance is itself the ‘signature of life.” Sc mething is holding all this . together despite the inexorable laws of chemistry and physics which point to ours, by rights, be- ing a dead planet. When the hypothesis was first put forward, it was virtually ig- nored by the scientific community, while being embraced by the eco- freaks. A strange bedfellow in all this was your average polluter, who liked the idea too. If a mechanism existed that allowed living organ- isms to regulate their global en-. vironment, why should industry _worry about cleaning up? © Let good old Mother Earth do the serubbing. NO GIMMICKS — JUST HONEST HARD WORK ] BARBARA DAHL — ff y PuT “BARBIE DOLL’ jf TO WORK FOR YOU : 983-2518 § PREAMIK® ist NARROWS | Call ‘DEREK A. CAVE Trial Lawyer Get the settlement - 687-02 you deserve. 58926-4133 | If the Earth is a super-organism capable of adjusting its own thermostat, we can basically get away with spewing whatever we want into the atmosphere, was the corporate take on Gaia. It was out of fear of endorsing any idea with such potential nuisance value that a lot of peo- ple, scientists and eco-freaks in- cluded, stayed gun-shy about Gaia for the last 20 years. Now, the subject is finally starting to get the detailed examination it so tichly deserves. I'm currently reading a collec- tion of papers titled ‘Scientists on Gaia,"' edited by Stephen Schneider, published by the Massachusetts Institute of Fech- nology Press, as presented to a forum arranged by the American Geophysical Society. it was a major interdisciplinary affair, where microbial ecologists exchanged notes with biogeochemists, and everything you ever wanted to know about Gaia, from the evolutionary aspects of planktonic dimethyl sulphide production to policy im- plications, was addressed. It’s not onc of those books you read overnight. The jargon hasn't been removed, so you have to struggle through some pretty fierce technical language. But basically, what they are groping for, like the blind men around the elephant, is a description of an Earth that is not just alive and capable of action in its own right, but which is (more to the point) as much an integral part of you and mie as it is of the seas and forests. In other words, we are the Earth, the Earth is us. Happy Earth Day. **Are you a victim of crime?” The line is, in fact, not available 24 hours. THE VICTIM/Service line reported in the Sunday, April 11 edition of the News is for Vancouver residents only and is a service associated with the Vancouver police. The phone number was in- cluded in a column of resources under the heading of Anyone who is a victim of a crime locally should contact the North Vancouver RCMP at 985-1311 or the West Van- couver Police department at 922-4141. Both police depart- ments offer victim support ser- vices. Liberal Invitation from MOBINA JAFFER Please join me and Paul Martin Jr. for-the opening of my campaign office. Friday, April:23, 1993 3:00 p.m. 221 Esplanade, North Vancouver 988-8513 SPECIAL INVITATION Interested in the political process? The Executive of the’ North Vancouver Liberal Riding Association invites members io partici- pate in its meetings held the first Thursday of each month (next, May 6), 7:30 p.m. at the Coach House Inn: You, may call the President, Richard Vanderkooy 980-9501 for more information. a Authorized by the Committee to Elect Mobina Jaffer and the North Vancouver Fedesal Liberal Association. | FRIDAY, SATURDAY. SUNDAY, MONDAY! Browse through our 2 Thomasville Galleries and you'll discover the ultimate in quality bedrooms, dining . ° rooms, living rooms, accent tables, wall systems and entertainment centers, you'll also find an exciting selection of Thomasville furnishings - sofas, loveseats and chairs. While everything in our-Galleries may ~ not be shown in both stores, everything is avaitable at both locations and at Inventory Sale prices. . 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