James Lovelock's third book in the non-fiction climate-themed ''Gaia'' trilogy is due out in January 2014

James Lovelock's third book in the non-fiction climate-themed ''Gaia'' trilogy is due out in January 2014

By Ian Johnston, of msnbc.com, reports: 


James Lovelock, the maverick scientist who became a guru to the environmental movement with his “Gaia” theory of the Earth as a single organism, has admitted to being a wee bit “alarmist” earlier in his life about climate change and says other environmental commentators, such as Al Gore, were too. But he still believes AGW is real and that polar cities will be needed for climate refugees in the "distant" future, not now. And not before 2100 for sure. More like  2500 or later. But they are coming.



Lovelock, in his 90s, is writing a new book in which he will say climate change is still happening, but not as quickly as he once feared. It will be released in the UK January 2013, according to his publishers there. A U.S. release date is also scheduled.



He previously painted some of the direst visions of the effects of climate change. In 2006, in an article in the U.K.’s Independent newspaper, he wrote that “before this century is over billions of us will die and the few breeding pairs of people that survive in polar cities will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable.”


However, the professor admitted in a telephone interview in 2012 with msnbc.com that he now thinks he had been “extrapolating too far."



The new book, due to be published in 2014, will be the third in a trilogy, following his earlier works, “Revenge of Gaia: Why the Earth Is Fighting Back – and How We Can Still Save Humanity,” and “The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning: Enjoy It While You Can.”