Abstract
By the latter half of the 20<sup>th</sup> Century, the rapidly expanding human population and the technology that made it possible had begun to have consequences which raised doubts about the sustainability of the current form of human civilization. Massive dependence on fossil fuels has not only depleted our sources of petroleum, but also significantly increased carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, resulting in increased global temperatures and changes in climate. The spread of human settlements has also resulted in deforestation and a drastic reduction in biodiversity, which is leading to a new mass extinction. Other non-renewable natural resources are also being used up. In the long term, it seems likely that the Earth will recover from these effects, but in the short to medium term, the very survival of the human species cannot be guaranteed. To sustain the current and projected human population at an acceptable level of comfort, security, and lifestyle requires careful, coordinated planning and technological solutions to the problems created by technology itself. These will include increased use of renewable sources of energy, sustainable high-tech agriculture and food production, and the widespread use of new medical and biotechnologies. The effects of the coming so-called 4th Industrial Revolution, spearheaded by artificial intelligence, must be taken into consideration. While this is expected to increase productivity and expand the economy, it will also have major social consequences which should be planned for ahead of time. These technologies will raise unprecedented ethical and legal issues, which should also be addressed in the planning process.
Highlights
In the 1970's, a British scientist named James Lovelock first put forward the hypothesis that the Earth behaves like a living organism, with the ability to maintain its environment, including conditions suited for Life on its surface (Lovelock, 1979)
Notably Lynn Margulis, contributed to this idea, which became known as the Gaia hypothesis, after the Greek goddess of the Earth (Lovelock & Margulis, 1974)
In part because of its metaphor of the Earth as a living organism, in part because of the mythical connotations of its name, and in part because of the prevailing orthodoxy that the biosphere, the totality of organisms living on the surface of the planet, responds to its environment rather than vice versa, most scientists did not accept the Gaia hypothesis
Summary
In the 1970's, a British scientist named James Lovelock first put forward the hypothesis that the Earth behaves like a living organism, with the ability to maintain its environment, including conditions suited for Life on its surface (Lovelock, 1979). How did humanity achieve its current status, a tightly interconnected, global economy which supports a population of nearly 7.8 billion people, most of whom have reasonable access to adequate food, basic shelter, and clothing, if not always the levels of healthcare that even we in Sri Lanka, a relatively poor country, have come to expect?
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