Anthony North: We are facing dangers, today, from global warming. This essay is not going to argue whether this is man-made or a natural cycle as such, but is to suggest another avenue of research – into the relationship between climate and paranormal experience.Many researchers, including myself, have suggested that an environment can have an effect upon the mind. But does the present climate change offer a possibility of testing the hypothesis in action?Gaia: The idea that the Earth is a form of entity, living in a relationship with its occupants, is older than history. Tribal animism is based around the existence of two worlds – the physical and the spiritual – existing parallel to each other.The continuance of this idea is represented in mythological goddesses from around the world. Today, Gaia is the most well known, but many symbolize them all in the term, Mother Earth.In the late 20th century a touch of rationality was given to the subject in Lovelock’s Gaia Hypothesis where it is argued that the various aspects of the planet seem to co-ordinate themselves, including the biosphere, which includes us.Intelligence ? This is not to suggest the existence of intelligence or intentionality in this relationship. But could it be that, through natural processes embodied in the global environment, natural consequences could arise that suggest intentionality?El Nino is a classic example. A phenomenon of the Pacific Ocean, it seems to regulate global temperatures, as if a kind of pressure valve. Present climate change seems to be causing El Nino more often, suggesting a form of control.But it is a long way from here to suggesting a linkage with climate change and paranormal experience. Yet there has been research that, if allied to the possibility, could provide indications of such a mechanism.
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