Even on the small chance that he is right that we face a much hotter world, there have been similar climate eras in Earth's history that were times of lush vegetation and a flourishing of the biosphere rather than widespread droughts and deserts. That's not necessarily due to temperature: plants need carbon dioxide to photosynthesise and higher carbon dioxide levels cause nearly all classes of plants to grow more vigorously and to withstand adversity better, as hundreds of agricultural experiments have demonstrated. Maybe Lovelock is right, but he pushes it much too far. He claims that humanity would have done better causing the next ice age to start "even though we would have had to abandon much of the northern temperate land to the glaciers" (including much of Britain).

I would like the chance to discuss the entire issue with Lovelock and would undoubtedly profit handsomely from listening to him. That is because he is a most unusually open and honest scientist in today's global warming debate. Unlike most of the scientists pushing alarmism, Jim Lovelock does not mould the scientific evidence to fit a political agenda. Instead of dismissing global warming sceptics as "deniers", he praises Nigel Lawson's sceptical book, An Appeal To Reason: "...I applaud his astringency and his disapproval of the trendy populism that now attaches to anything and everything seen as Green."

And if I have serious philosophical doubts about Gaia, it goes without saying that I agree with Lovelock on windmills and biofuels, nuclear reactors, Rachel Carson and pesticides, urban green imperialist ideology and the ridiculous and futile commitments to reduce emissions.