the-BA : BA Press Release - 5 September 2006

Planet Earth (Copyright: iStockPhoto.com)

Life has thrived on the Earth’s surface for nearly four billion years. This is despite a steadily brightening Sun, volcanic outbursts and occasional asteroid impacts.

How this is possible, and the chances for the future survival of humankind, will be discussed by Dr Tim Lenton of the University of East Anglia during his BA Charles Lyell Award Lecture at the BA Festival of Science on Tuesday 5 September.

The Festival is taking place in Norwich from 2-9 September and will bring together over 300 of the UK’s top scientists and engineers to discuss the latest scientific developments with the public.

In his lecture ‘How stable is planet Earth?’, Dr Lenton will speak about the Gaia theory, named after the Greek Earth goddess and first proposed by British scientist James Lovelock. “Earth history is characterised by long intervals of relative stability interspersed by short periods of rapid change,” explains Dr Lenton. “Major transitions include the rise of oxygen in the atmosphere over 2 billion years ago and extreme glaciations around 700 million years ago.”

“Life is actively involved in the self-regulation keeping the Earth in a habitable state, including the climate, and the composition of the atmosphere, oceans and land surface”. However, as Dr Lenton will disclose, life is not always a stabilising influence – major transitions in the state of the planet have in the past been driven by various species. Says Dr Lenton: “We appear to be an errant species that is disrupting the global environment and potentially threatening our own existence.”

Dr Lenton’s research has made recent discoveries regarding the nature and causes of some of the major transitions in Earth history, including the rise of oxygen and major climate changes. “Through our work we have been able to make long-term projections about the impact of human activities and are able to see current concerns about climate change from a new perspective” he reports. “Climate change is not new, and life should persist on Earth for another billion years. Whether human civilisation will survive, is another matter.”

The opportunity to present a popular and prestigious BA award lecture at the Festival of Science is offered to five outstanding communicators each year. The award lectures aim to promote open and informed discussion on issues involving science and actively encourage young scientists to explore the social aspects of their research, providing them with reward and recognition for doing so.

In addition to lectures and debates at the University of East Anglia, the Festival will also feature a host of events throughout Norwich as part of the Science in the City programme.

This year’s Festival is supported by the University of East Anglia, the East of England Development Agency and Microsoft Research. The Press Centre is sponsored by AstraZeneca.

For further information on the BA Festival of Science, visit www.the-ba.net/festivalofscience.

ENDS

This year’s Festival is supported by the University of East Anglia, the East of England Development Agency and Microsoft Research. The Press Centre is sponsored by AstraZeneca.

For further information please contact:

Lisa Hendry, Press Assistant, the BA
Tel: +44 (0)20 7019 4946
Email: lisa.hendry@the-ba.net

Note for editors

1. The BA (British Association for the Advancement of Science) is the UK's nationwide, open membership organisation that exists to advance the public understanding, accessibility and accountability of the sciences and engineering. Established in 1831, the BA organises major initiatives across the UK, including the annual BA Festival of Science, National Science Week, programmes of regional and local events, and an extensive programme for young people in schools and colleges. For more information about the BA, please visit www.the-ba.net.

2. Speakers have been asked to submit press papers for their talks, which include a summary of the talk and what is newsworthy about their research. Press papers will be available from mid-August at www.the-ba.net/presspapers.

3. To register for access to the press papers or to the Press Centre at the BA Festival of Science, visit www.the-ba.net/pressregister.

4. The BA Festival of Science 2006 is being hosted in Norwich by the University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park and Norwich City Council.

5. The University of East Anglia (UEA) is an internationally renowned, research-led University. Over 13,000 students from more than 100 countries and around 2500 staff enjoy its architecturally distinguished campus on the edge of the city of Norwich. UEA is known for its pioneering and collaborative approach to research, bringing together academics from different disciplines to create innovative research groups. The latest Research Assessment Exercise (2001) confirmed the breadth and depth of UEA's research excellence through the achievement of the top 5* or 5 ratings in eleven subject areas, with staff inclusion rates in the top 10% across the board.

6. The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) is the driving force behind sustainable economic regeneration in the East of England: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Its vision is to create a leading economy, founded on a world class knowledge base, creativity and enterprise to improve the quality of life for all who live and work here. EEDA aims to do this by: (1) Setting and shaping the direction of economic development in the region, (2) Persuading and influencing others to bring resources together, (3) Investing in imaginative projects that challenge the norm. For further information visit www.eeda.org.uk.

7. Founded in 1991, Microsoft Research is dedicated to conducting both basic and applied research in computer science and software engineering. Its goals are to enhance the user experience on computing devices, reduce the cost of writing and maintaining software, and invent novel computing technologies. Researchers focus on more than 55 areas of computing and collaborate with leading academic, government and industry researchers to advance the state of the art in such areas as graphics, speech recognition, user-interface research, natural language processing, programming tools and methodologies, operating systems and networking, and the mathematical sciences. Microsoft Research employs more than 700 people in five labs located in Redmond, Wash.; Silicon Valley, Calif.; Cambridge, England; Beijing, China; and Bangalore, India. Microsoft Research collaborates openly with colleges and universities worldwide to enhance the teaching and learning experience, inspire technological innovation, and broadly advance the field of computer science. More information can be found at www.research.microsoft.com.

	Home

	Press Office

	Press Releases

	2007 Press Releases

	2006 Press Releases

	2005 Press Releases

	2004 Press Releases