Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 14: The original Daisyworld.
But eventually, under an old and exceedingly bright sun, the whole world was totally
covered with light daisies, at which point it could not become any lighter. The sun, con-
tinuing its relentlessly increasing output of energy, finally warmed the now totally white
Daisyworld above the optimum temperature for daisy growth. Lovelock watched, fas-
cinated as the white daisies, now in positive feedback, began to die off exponentially
fast, leaving more and more bare ground exposed to the sun. The planet's temperature
rapidly soared with the demise of the white daisies, until it reached the high, lifeless
temperature determined solely by the interaction between the bare ground and the en-
ergy from the sun. Daisyworld had died.
Lovelock had discovered that the feedbacks between the daisies and their non-living
environment had allowed Daisyworld to regulate its own surface temperature close to
the optimum over a vast period of time without the need for a mysterious disembodied
teleological entity managing the planet behind the scenes. Lovelock had demonstrated
that emergent self-regulation at the level of an entire planet was a distinct possibility in
the real world.
