Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Climate & Climate Change

Gaia – Saved by the Seas

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THE idea that the earth’s physical and biological systems adjust to perturbation through feedback systems is central to James Lovelock’s Gaia theory. Let me declare upfront that I don’t subscribe to this theory because I don’t see the earth as a living entity, but rather as a place where life is lived. I do agree, however, that natural systems tend to exhibit strong negative feedback around an equilibrium point. Negative feedback is the opposite of positive feedback. It acts to oppose perturbation on a system and thus to maintain the current equilibrium. [1]

The Gaia theory is very popular including amongst many sceintists concerned about global warming notably Tim Flannery. Professor Flannery was named Australian of the Year in 2007 and is presently chairman of the Copenhagen Climate Council. The Gaia theory underpins his influential book on climate change ‘The Weather Makers’.

Given Professors Lovelock and Flannery believe in feedback systems which seek to maintain an optimal physical and chemical environment for life on earth, Gaia, it is perhaps surprising that they are so concerned about elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide causing a climate crisis.

I understand that this concern, as articulated by Professor Lovelock in his 2006 book ‘Revenge of Gaia’, stems in large part from a belief that Gaia has been so despoiled that the biological systems which would normally buffer, for example the capacity of phytoplankton and forests to draw excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, is no longer properly functioning.

But what if there exists a physical system, in addition to these biological systems, to prevent runaway greenhouse?

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Business That Sees Only Profit In Environmentalism: A Note from Bjorn Lomborg

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“SOME business leaders are cozying up with politicians and scientists to demand swift, drastic action on global warming. This is a new twist on a very old practice: companies using public policy to line their own pockets.

“The tight relationship between the groups echoes the relationship among weapons makers, researchers and the U.S. military during the Cold War. President Dwight Eisenhower famously warned about the might of the ‘military-industrial complex’, cautioning that ‘the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.’ He worried that ‘there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties.’

“This is certainly true of climate change. We are told that very expensive carbon regulations are the only way to respond to global warming, despite ample evidence that this approach does not pass a basic cost-benefit test. We must ask whether a ‘climate-industrial complex’ is emerging, pressing taxpayers to fork over money to please those who stand to gain.

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Flow of Deep Water South from Greenland More ‘Diffuse’ than Previously Thought

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WE live on one planet and all its oceans are connected with meridional overturning circulation (MOC) facilitating the mixing of waters across the globe.    

In the apocalyptic movie ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ the melting of the polar icecaps disrupts a component of this system, the North Atlantic current, and so North America freezes over with US citizens pouring into Mexico to escape the freezing conditions.

New findings, published late last week in the journal Nature don’t dispute MOC, but suggest that the southern flow of deep water from Greenland may not follow as neat a path as assumed – including by the scientist in the Hollywood blockbuster.   In particular rather than the deep water moving as a conveyor belt – yes that is the term that had been used to describe the flow of water southwards – it may be more diffuse. 

One of the authors of the new paper in Nature, Amy Bower, has described it as “A swath in the wide-open, turbulent interior of the North Atlantic” rather than a conveyor belt.

In the media release accompanying the publication of the findings, another author Susan Lozier, suggests this means it is going to be more difficult to measure climate signals in the deep ocean.

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