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On Gaia [[electronic resource] ] : a critical investigation of the relationship between life and earth / / Toby Tyrrell



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Autore: Tyrrell Toby <1965-> Visualizza persona
Titolo: On Gaia [[electronic resource] ] : a critical investigation of the relationship between life and earth / / Toby Tyrrell Visualizza cluster
Pubblicazione: Princeton, NJ, : Princeton University Press, c2013
Edizione: Course Book
Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (325 p.)
Disciplina: 570.1
Soggetto topico: Gaia hypothesis
Ecology - Philosophy
Soggetto non controllato: Cretaceous
Earth climate
Earth environment
Earth history
Gaia hypothesis
Gaia
James Lovelock
anaerobes
anthropic principle
astronomical processes
atmosphere
atmospheric CO2
atmospheric science
biodiversity
biological processes
biomass
biosphere
carbon
chemical equilibrium
climate science
climate shifts
climatic state
coevolutionary hypothesis
diatoms
ecological dynamics
ecology
environmental catastrophes
environmental control
environmental preferences
environmental regulation
eusocial colonies
evolution
evolutionary advances
evolutionary biology
evolutionary dynamics
evolutionary inventions
extremophiles
first forests
fossil evidence
genetic similarity
genetic uniformity
geological forces
geological hypothesis
geology
global environment
growth
habitat commitment
homeostatic regulations
ice ages
icy climates
interglacials
land plants
life persistence
life
living organisms
long-term life
metabolic rates
methane
natural selection
oceanography
optimal temperatures
oxygen-dependent photosynthesis
oxygen-yielding photosynthesis
oxygen
oxygenic photosynthesis
planetary environment
planetary regulation
plant transpiration
primary production
single organisms
stability
temperature effects
temperature
vegetation
Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Nota di contenuto: Front matter -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- 1. Gaia, the Grand Idea -- 2. Good Citizens or Selfish Genes? -- 3. Life at the Edge: Lessons from Extremophiles -- 4. Temperature Paces Life -- 5. Icehouse Earth -- 6. Given Enough Time . . . -- 7. Evolutionary Innovations and Environmental Change -- 8. A Stable or an Unstable World? -- 9. The Puzzle of Life's Long Persistence -- 10. Conclusions -- Notes -- Further Reading -- References -- Acknowledgments -- Index
Sommario/riassunto: One of the enduring questions about our planet is how it has remained continuously habitable over vast stretches of geological time despite the fact that its atmosphere and climate are potentially unstable. James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis posits that life itself has intervened in the regulation of the planetary environment in order to keep it stable and favorable for life. First proposed in the 1970's, Lovelock's hypothesis remains highly controversial and continues to provoke fierce debate. On Gaia undertakes the first in-depth investigation of the arguments put forward by Lovelock and others--and concludes that the evidence doesn't stack up in support of Gaia. Toby Tyrrell draws on the latest findings in fields as diverse as climate science, oceanography, atmospheric science, geology, ecology, and evolutionary biology. He takes readers to obscure corners of the natural world, from southern Africa where ancient rocks reveal that icebergs were once present near the equator, to mimics of cleaner fish on Indonesian reefs, to blind fish deep in Mexican caves. Tyrrell weaves these and many other intriguing observations into a comprehensive analysis of the major assertions and lines of argument underpinning Gaia, and finds that it is not a credible picture of how life and Earth interact. On Gaia reflects on the scientific evidence indicating that life and environment mutually affect each other, and proposes that feedbacks on Earth do not provide robust protection against the environment becoming uninhabitable--or against poor stewardship by us.
Titolo autorizzato: On Gaia  Visualizza cluster
ISBN: 1-4008-4791-5
Formato: Materiale a stampa
Livello bibliografico Monografia
Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
Record Nr.: 9910786971303321
Lo trovi qui: Univ. Federico II
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