Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
(2006) warns in The Revenge of Gaia that the loss of rainforests and subsequently
biodiversity, coupled with an increase in GHGs and the thermal expansion of oceans
is driving the planet past its shock absorbing capacity (see Sec. 10.2.2). In short,
if humanity does not act quickly, by the middle of this century, the Earth will
return to its previously inhabitable state. Ward (2009) goes further with his Medea
hypothesis stating that it is life itself which presents the greatest threat to life. Past
extinctions serve as a warning and in his opinion it is only a matter before they
are replicated. Under this hypothesis, there is no “Mother Earth” and there is no
harmony, only avid destruction.
However, an intelligent management of resources and a deeper understanding of
the interconnections that exist between them could be used to mitigate or extend
into the future any impending doomsday event. The key word here is could as
intelligence is sadly not always used when it should be. Indeed, society is frequently
extracting irreplaceable resources, leaving holes in the ground, where rich mineral
deposits once laid and little more than roots and bare soil, where lines of trees once
stood. Such examples serve to illustrate the finite nature of the geobiosphere. Yet
the predatory nature of the human species holds no bounds and recognises little
more but the economic motto of “bigger is better”. Greed then serves to further
accelerate the living planet's degradation towards Thanatia.
Thanatia is the personification of non-violent death and presents, in contrast to
either Gaia or Medea, the least devastating extinction possible. It depicts death as
an exhaustion of marketable planetary resources. Whilst one can never truly predict
when this commercial end will occur, to deny it completely would be a failure to
accept the irrevocable passing of time. Even if one admits that the clock is ticking,
the speed at which it ticks is equally important. And to ascertain that one must
have a reference point and a unit with which to measure planetary deterioration.
This is in effect what Thanatia and exergy do. As Lord Kelvin stated: “When you
can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know
something about it, but when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is
of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind” (Thomson, 1883).
Time is of the essence, as the scarcest resource known to Man. Society over
time, in chasing “wellbeing” through the scouring for natural resources, has wanted
nothing more but to adapt and modify the planet according to a momentary whim.
Yet welfare cannot be linked to growth if it entails the mass use of exhaustible ma-
terials. Man's existence cannot be about the pillaging of ever scarcer resources, the
contamination of the planetary nest and the idea of prey versus predator. Indeed,
human beings, a species blessed with intelligence should use it to avoid taking (pre-
dating) more than strictly necessary. Yet it is only now into the 21st century that
society is beginning to realise just how destructive this kind of thinking has been.
It is also finally starting to understand that fundamentally respecting other living
beings (and even non-living things) is essential to success. Arguably, human inge-
nuity has led the species to push too far too quickly. Whilst it is di
cult to know
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