Life, Temperature, and the Earth

by David Schwartzman

"The idea that living things and the atmosphere, oceans, and soils comprise an interactive, self-regulating system - the Gaia concept - was first proposed nearly thirty years ago."--BOOK JACKET. "Life, Temperature, and the Earth updates and modifies important aspects of the Gaia hypothesis in light of geochemical, geophysical, mathematical, and paleontological data that were either ignored or unavailable at the time the hypothesis was developed. Schwartzman argues that the Earth's climatic temperature has been biologically regulated amid the backdrop of variable volcanic outgassing and an evolving sun. The key to this regulation - discussed here in depth - has been the progressive increase in life's promotion of weathering on land over geologic time. The book is the first to take note of strong evidence for much higher temperatures prior to about two billion years ago and their role in constraining the evolution of microbes and delaying the emergence of complex multicellular life."--BO