Medea hypothesis
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The Medea hypothesis is a term coined by paleontologist Peter Ward[1] for the anti-Gaian hypothesis that multicellular life, understood as a superorganism, is suicidal; in this view microbial-triggered mass extinctions are attempts to return the Earth to the microbial dominated state it has been for most of its history.[2][3][4][5][6][7] It is named after the mythological Medea, who killed her own children. Medea represents the Earth, and her children are multicellular life.
Past "suicide attempts" include:
- Methane poisoning, 3.5 billion years ago
- The oxygen catastrophe, 2.7 billion years ago
- Snowball earth, twice, 2.3 billion years ago and 790–630 million years ago
- At least five putative hydrogen sulfide-induced mass extinctions, such as the Great Dying, 251.4 million years ago
The list does not include the K–T event, since this was, as least partially, externally induced by a meteor impact.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Peter Ward (2009), The Medea Hypothesis: Is Life on Earth Ultimately Self-Destructive?, ISBN 0691130752
- ^ Gaia's evil twin: Is life its own worst enemy? The New Scientist. Volume 202, Issue 2713, 17 June 2009, pages 28–31 (Cover story)
- ^ Bennett, Drake (2009-01-11). "Dark green: A scientist argues that the natural world isn't benevolent and sustaining: it's bent on self-destruction". Boston.Com. The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/01/11/dark_green/. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
- ^ Grey, William (2010-02). "Gaia theory – Reflections on life on earth". Australian Review of Public Affairs. University of Sydney. http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2010/02/grey.html. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
- ^ Ashraf M. T. Elewa, The History, Origins, and Causes of Mass Extinctions, Journal of Cosmology, 2009, Vol 2, pages 201–220. Cosmology, October 18, 2009 Gaia, Medea and Cronus hypotheses compared
- ^ Rhawn Joseph, Extinction, Metamorphosis, Evolutionary Apoptosis, and Genetically Programmed Species Mass Death ,Journal of Cosmology, 2009, Vol 2, pages 235–255. Cosmology, October 15, 2009
- ^ "Peter Ward speaker profile". TED. http://www.ted.com/index.php/speakers/peter_ward.html. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
[edit] External links
- Peter Ward's lecture
- The Medea Hypothesis: A response to the Gaia hypothesis Review of Ward's book, February 12, 2010 .
- Paleontologist Peter Ward’s “Medea hypothesis”: Life is out to get you Scientific American review, January 13, 2010
- The Medea Hypothesis Review by the Astrobiology Society of Britain.
- The Medea Hypothesis: Is Life on Earth Ultimately Self-Destructive? Outlook for the world is still grim Review in the Times Educational Supplement
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