Gaia was the Greek goddess of Earth.

The Gaia hypothesis, put forth by British scientist James Lovelock offered a new perspective of life on our planet. It suggest that nature regulates the Earth’s environment in such as way that facilitates the advancement of life in an optimal fashion. Life on earth is all inter-connected as living things and their inorganic surroundings coexist in curious unity, one giant entity if you will. An attribute of paramount importance about this entity is the existence of built-in (negative) feedback loops. Controlling mechanisms are constantly fed sufficiently accurate data for it to moderate the conditions on the planet, keeping everything within certain boundaries that allow life to flourish.

A daunting question is posed: what do we do when this complex but beautiful system start to show signs of floundering as Earth’s carrying capacity is reached and perhaps, surpassed. Could global warming and the resulting growing number and intensity of natural calamities be one of those (glaring) signs? Is there unprecedented drop in the level of wellbeing especially among the youngest sector of the population? Can the goddess of Earth still save this planet from imminent demise or do living beings – man to put it bluntly – lend a helping hand for its own sake and the sake of its future generations?

The discourse has started. What is your position?