Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth — Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key Gaia/planetary life concepts from Lovelock’s Gaia notes (Pages 1–7).

Gaia hypothesis

The Earth functions as a single, self-regulating living system that maintains environmental conditions suitable for life by integrating the biosphere, atmosphere, oceans, and soil.

Biosphere

The global sum of living organisms and their interactions, forming a connected, living envelope around Earth.

Homeostasis (Gaia context)

The Gaia tendency to keep environmental conditions relatively constant for life, unless disturbed by external factors.

Entropy

A measure of disorder or the rate at which energy dissipates; life is linked to local entropy handling, often described as reducing entropy to sustain order.

Entropy reduction

The decrease of a system’s entropy due to life processes, viewed as a signature of living activity in a planetary context.

Atmospheric disequilibrium

A persistent non-equilibrium mixture of atmospheric gases indicating active processes (such as life) maintaining the composition.

Methane and oxygen co-presence

The simultaneous presence of methane and oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere, requiring continuous replenishment and signaling biological activity.

Carrier compounds (methyl iodide; dimethyl sulfide)

Marine-life–produced compounds that transport elements through air from oceans to land; their atmospheric appearance Supports Gaia hypotheses.

Life-detection by atmospheric analysis

A proposed method to detect life by analyzing atmospheric composition and disequilibria from a distance (e.g., via infrared spectroscopy).

Gaia principle 1 (constant conditions)

Gaia’s tendency to keep conditions constant for terrestrial life (homeostasis) unless perturbed.

Gaia principle 2 (core vs peripheral)

Gaia has vital core organs and expendable peripheral ones; the impact of actions depends on where they occur.

Gaia principle 3 (cybernetics)

Gaian responses follow cybernetic rules, with time constants and loop gains determining how changes are regulated.

Cybernetics

The science of control and communication in systems, emphasizing feedback and regulation in living planetary processes.

Gaian nervous system

The idea that Gaia’s regulation is a networked, planetary-scale system, potentially extending through living processes including humans.

Intelligence (Gaia context)

The ability to answer environmental questions; in Gaia, intelligence ranges from automatic regulatory responses to higher-order processing.

Human–Gaia relationship

The concept that humans are part of Gaia and can contribute to or disrupt planetary regulation, possibly moving toward a cooperative global state.