Sadly, it's much easier to create a desert than a forest. James Lovelock More Quotes by James Lovelock More Quotes From James Lovelock Science always uses metaphor. James Lovelock metaphor use There is no clear distinction anywhere on the Earth's surface between living and nonliving matter. There is merely a hierarchy of intensity going from the 'material' environment of the rocks and the atmosphere to the living cells. James Lovelock rocks cells life We are the intelligent elite among animal life on earth and whatever our mistakes, [Earth] needs us. This may seem an odd statement after all that I have said about the way 20th century humans became almost a planetary disease organism. But it has taken [Earth] 2.5 billion years to evolve an animal that can think and communicate its thoughts. If we become extinct she has little chance of evolving another. James Lovelock taken mistake animal So-called 'sustainable development' is meaningless drivel. James Lovelock sustainable-development drivel development The climate is doing its usual tricks. There's nothing much really happening yet. We were supposed to be halfway toward a frying world now. James Lovelock climate usual world By the end of this century, climate change will reduce the human population to a few breeding pairs surviving near the Arctic. James Lovelock eugenics population climate Our planet consists largely of lumps of fall-out from a star-sized hydrogen bomb. Within our bodies, no less than three million atoms rendered unstable in that event still erupt every minute, releasing a tiny fraction of the energy stored from that fierce fire of long ago. James Lovelock long-ago stars fall I suspect any worries about genetic engineering may be unnecessary. Genetic mutations have always happened naturally, anyway. James Lovelock mutation engineering worry Humans are too stupid to prevent climate change from radically impacting on our lives over the coming decades. James Lovelock conservation climate stupid The big threat to the planet is people: there are too many, doing too well economically and burning too much oil. James Lovelock eugenics oil people Only rarely do we see beyond the needs of humanity, and he linked this blindness to our Christian and humanist infrastructure. It arose 2,000 years ago and was then benign, and we were no significant threat to Gaia. Now that we are over six billion hungry and greedy individuals, all aspiring to a first-world lifestyle, our urban way of life encroaches upon the domain of the living Earth. James Lovelock humanity christian years Only nuclear power can now halt global warming. James Lovelock global-warming nuclear halt The oil companies regard nuclear power as their rival, who will reduce their profits, so they put out a lot of disinformation about nuclear power. James Lovelock rivals nuclear oil We rushed into renewable energy without any thought. The schemes are largely hopelessly inefficient and unpleasant. I personally can't stand windmills at any price. James Lovelock wind-turbines windmills energy If a power station were to be built down the road, I'd prefer a nuclear plant over an oil burner, and definitely over a coal burner. We simply have to lessen our consumption of fossil fuels. James Lovelock fossils oil fuel Composing computer programs to solve scientific problems is like writing poetry. You must choose every word with care and link it with the other words in perfect syntax. There is no place for verbosity or carelessness. To become fluent in a computer lnaguage demands almost the antithesis of modern loose thinking. It requires many interactive sessions, the hands-on use of the device. You do not learn a foreign language from a book, rather you have to live in the country for year to let the langauge become an automatic part of you, and the same is true for computer languages. James Lovelock writing country book If you start any large theory, such as quantum mechanics, plate tectonics, evolution, it takes about 40 years for mainstream science to come around. Gaia has been going for only 30 years or so. James Lovelock mechanic evolution years I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while. James Lovelock issues feelings war The world has not warmed up very much since the millennium. Twelve years is a reasonable time... it (the temperature) has stayed almost constant, whereas it should have been rising - carbon dioxide is rising, no question about that. James Lovelock twelve should-have years I'm not a pessimist, even though I do think awful things are going to happen. James Lovelock pessimist awful thinking
