Science is at a turning point. Much of the world is convinced that humans are harming the planet. Gen Z is galvanized for climate action. A major publisher is releasing a book by an acclaimed journalist that organizes biochemical data in support of Gaia Hypothesis: The theory that Earth is a self-regulating organism. Geoscientists eviscerated this theory as anthropomorphic paganism when it was published in 1969. Recently, I asked the Director of Graduate Geophysics at Harvard University if there was any faculty that would be “excited” to see evidence of Gaia and he replied, “No”. However, the department has endorsed dumping millions of sulfur particles on the poles to block the sun to reduce temperatures. Perhaps it’s time to acknowledge our approach to geoscience is fundamentally in conflict with sustainability.
CORRUPTION
The independent think tank Data for Progress released a report in March 2024 that revealed fossil fuel companies lobbies US universities with roughly $100 million a year in exchange for influencing curriculum and climate research. Suppressing new directions in research maintains the status quo—fossil fuel dominance.
LEAST DIVERSE STEM
Geoscience is the least diverse STEM field. The fossil fuel industry’s influence over academic courses has led to stagnancy in progress, and reliance on Industrial Age concepts that maintain fossil fuels friendly perspectives. Geoscience is the least diverse of all STEM fields because it has submitted to this fossil fuel industry’s innovation-stalling narrative for nearly one hundred years. Diverse students are repelled by an “old guard” community that doesn’t encourage diverse ideas. This is a red flag for a prolonged, integral bias and possibly corruption.
LARGER LIFECYCLE
Gaia Hypothesis was published in 1969 by chemist and inventor James Lovelock and micro biologist Lynn Marguils. It argues that Earth is an organism and that life is part of the biochemical process the organism engages as part of it’s self regulation.