He was 103 years old and spent much of his life advocating for measures to combat climate change.
British scientist and inventor James Lovelockauthor of the Gaia hypothesis and pioneer of the environmentalism, died on Tuesday, on his 103rd birthday, at his home in Abbotsbury, Dorset (southwest England), his family reported Wednesday.
The climatologist was especially known for his Gaia hypothesis, formulated in 1969 and which states that the Earth acts as a self-regulating organism, which humans harm with their activities.
It also contributed to raising awareness of the risks to the climate fossil fuels, industrial pollution and harmful gases in the ozone layer.
“To the world, he was known as a pioneering scientist, weather prophet, and creator of the Gaia theory. To us, he was a loving husband and wonderful father with boundless curiosity, a mischievous sense of humor, and a passion for nature.” , indicates the family statement.
“Until six months ago, he was still able to walk along the coast near his home in Dorset and take part in interviews, but his health deteriorated after a heavy fall at the beginning of the year. He died at 9:55 p.m. (Tuesday local time) due to complications related to that fall, “adds the note, which specifies that the funeral will be private and later “a memorial service” will be held.
An independent and sometimes controversial scientist, Lovelock worked in the United States and the United Kingdom – including for their secret services – and spent much of his life advocating for measures to combat climate changeamong them the use of nuclear energylong before it was recognized that there is a global warming crisis.
Born in 1919 in the English town of Letchworth, he studied chemistry at the University of Manchester (north of England) and later delved into other subjects at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
During his stay in the United States, he carried out various investigations at Yale University – when he developed an electron capture detector to find contaminants -, Baylor University School of Medicine and Harvard University.