James Lovelock, creator of Gaia ecology theory, dies at 103

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The British environmental scientist whose influential Gaia theory sees the Earth as a living organism gravely imperiled by human activity has died on his 103rd birthday. James Lovelock’s family said Wednesday that he died the previous evening at his home in southwest England after his health deteriorated from a bad fall earlier this year. Lovelock’s contributions to environmental science included developing a device to measure ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere and pollutants in air, soil and water. The Gaia hypothesis saw the planet as a complex, self-regulating system that maintained the conditions for life on the planet. Lovelock said human activity has thrown the system dangerously off-kilter. Gaia is the Greek goddess of the Earth.