ABSTRACT
Let's assume that the Earth self regulates; that on our planet organisms, rocks, air and ocean all act in unison to keep the climate and chemistry comfortable. I am not asking you to suspend science and believe in some mysterious Earth mother with teleological powers. All I ask is that you imagine a planet sized ecosystem, Gaia, something that emerged when organisms and their material environment evolved together. Why do it anyway? Simply because the need for the precautionary principle is more clearly seen in a view of the whole Earth than in the subdivided parts of it.
