Editing Earth immune system

{{Short description|Controversial proposal related to the Gaia hypothesis}}
The '''Earth immune system''' is a controversial proposal, claimed to be a consequence of  the [[Gaia hypothesis]]. The Gaia hypothesis holds that the entire earth may be considered a single organism (Gaia). As a self-maintaining organism, Earth would have an [[immune system]] of some sort in order to maintain its health.

Some proponents of this speculative concept, for example, hold that [[human|humankind]] can be considered an "[[infection]]" of Gaia, and that [[AIDS]] is an attempt by this immune system to reject the infection. 
"[[Cancer]]" might be a more accurate term, as humans [[evolution|evolved]] within Gaia, and are not external invaders.
An opposite view is that humankind is Gaia's immune system itself, perhaps evolved to avert future catastrophes such as the [[Permian-Triassic extinction event|Permian]] and [[Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event|Cretaceous]] [[mass extinction]]s of species.

[[James Lovelock]]'s book "[[The Revenge of Gaia]]" suggests that Gaia has many mechanisms for eliminating [[civilization]]s that do harm through [[greenhouse gas emission]]s and [[global warming]], but suggests that with increasing heat being received from the sun, Gaia's ability to "bounce back" as it did after the [[Permian]] and [[Cretaceous]] [[extinction]] events, may be increasingly compromised.

[[Paul Hawken]] suggests in ''[[Blessed Unrest]]'' that when Earth is considered a living system then Earth's immune system is made up of the million or so organizations all around the globe that are working for social justice, the environment, and indigenous people's rights. Many of these groups are linked through the Internet and other means so there is a vast network of interconnected people and groups working to protect the planet, its people, and all beings. For example, one organization that serves to link groups working on [[sustainable energy]] is Inforse in Denmark.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.inforse.org/ |title=International Network for Sustainable Energy |work=INFORSE |year=2015 |accessdate=31 May 2015}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Gaia hypothesis]]
*[[Gaia philosophy]]
*[[Geophysiology]]

==References==
;Citations
{{reflist}}
;Bibliography
* {{cite web |url= http://reason.com/archives/2002/07/31/defenders-of-earth |title=Defenders of Earth. Are humans Gaia's immune system? |first=Ronald |last=Bailey |work=Reason.com |date=31 July 2002 |accessdate=31 May 2015}} 
* {{cite web |url= http://www.newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v68/__show_article/_a000068-000018.htm |title=Subtle Psychopathy and Schizophrenic Supermen: Gandhi Was a Cultural Oncologist |first=Andy |last=Lehman |work=New Civilization Network |date=12 April 2003 |accessdate=31 May 2015}} 
* {{cite book |last=Hawken |first=P. |year=2007 |title=Blessed unrest: How the largest movement in the world came into being and why no one saw it coming |location=New York |publisher=Viking Press |isbn=9780670038527 |url=https://archive.org/details/blessedunresthow00hawk }}
* {{cite book |last=Lovelock |first=James |year=1979 |title=Gaia: A new look at life on Earth |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780192176653 |url=https://archive.org/details/gaianewlookatlif00loverich }}

[[Category:Ecological theories]]


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