Peter Ward on mass extinctions - The Medea Hypothesis

Paul bristolia at yahoo.com
Sat May 16 23:31:49 EDT 2009

Peter Ward on mass extinctions
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/peter_ward_on_mass_extinctions.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lYN_lXU9PA

Speakers Peter Ward: Paleontologist
http://www.ted.com/index.php/speakers/peter_ward.html

The Medea Hypothesis: Is Life on Earth Ultimately Self-Destructive?
by Peter Ward

http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8855.html

http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8855.html#TOC

“Using the latest discoveries from the geological record, he
argues that life might be its own worst enemy.”

“According to the Medea hypothesis, it does. Ward demonstrates
that all but one of the mass extinctions that have struck Earth
were caused by life itself. He looks at our planet's history
in a new way, revealing an Earth that is witnessing an alarming
decline of diversity and biomass--a decline brought on by
life's own "biocidal" tendencies.”

Yours,

Paul H.