Fifty one years ago, on this day, February 6, 1975, the UK magazine New Scientist published an article about, well The Quest for Gaia.
Lovelock formulated the Gaia Hypothesis in journal articles in 1972[1] and 1974,[2] followed by a popularizing 1979 book Gaia: A new look at life on Earth. An article in the New Scientist of February 6, 1975,[39] and a popular book length version of the hypothesis, published in 1979 as The Quest for Gaia, began to attract scientific and critical attention.
Lovelock and Sidney Epton, “The Quest for Gaia,” New Scientist, 6 Feb. 1975, p. 304;
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 331ppm. As of 2026 it is 428ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The broader context was that Lovelock had been thinking about all this stuff for a while (see also his atmospheric pollution work for Shell in the 1960s!) here and here.
The specific context was that by the mid-1970s the idea that positivist science was good at some stuff and might also be missing bigger parts of the bigger picture had really caught on.
(see also Dr Who and the Green Death!)
What I think we can learn from this is that Lovelock’s hypothesis (disputed) has gained traction and attention, for reasons both sound and unsound.
What happened next: The Gaia hypothesis got a signal boost during the excellent thriller “Edge of Darkness” in the mid-1980s.
Lovelock lived to a very ripe old age, and warned about anthropogenic climate change repeatedly.
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.
Also on this day:
February 6, 1969 – Senate Select Committee warned about CO2 build up by Professor Harry Bloom
February 6, 1995 – Australian business versus a carbon tax