dance of oxygen which started the abundance of animals. Animals produce methane gas which destroys oxygen and therefore maintains an oxygen balance. All of this life keeps the planet in perfect balance. If the oxygen level were to rise to be above 35%, then fires would occur through lightening and the planet would be a dead fiery mass. All of these factors conclude that the earth maintains regularity through both temperature and oxygen control. "There has been a 25% increase in heat from the sun since life began. But surface temperature has remained approximately constant." (Charlton, p.3). Furthermore, the earth maintains its oceans' salinity. For billions of years the salt content has been stable at 3.4%. Salt marshes and other such evaporating individual bodies of salt water help to filter out the salt and deposits it in beds. It is interesting to note that cells cannot tolerate salt concentrations much above 5% because of the metaphor that the earth is a single cell. Another metaphor that can be explained scientifically is that the earth is a self-recycling center. This can be examined through studying the carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycle. These cycles use and reuse the earth's basic elements of life. Scientifically proven, the earth is self-maintained much like a living organism. The idea that the earth is self-governing and self-maintaining can be somewhat frightening if one chooses to see this as a power to destroy mankind. "If the Earth is indeed self-regulating, then it will adjust to the impacts of man. However, as we will see, these adjustments may act to exclude man, much as the introduction of oxygen into the atmosphere by photosynthetic bacteria. This is the crux of the Gaia hypotheses." (Oceans p.2). Even more frightening is to assert that the Earth has a conscious. This has been scientifically reasoned through an experiment and through the process of elimination. The Biosphere II project designed ...
