TIPPING POINTS: WAS JAMES LOVELOCK A CLIMATE CHANGE ALARMIST?

According to an article in the Mail, James Lovelock, originator of the GAIA hypothesis, alarmed the world about climate change by stating: 

• Civilization in its present form hasn't got long.
• Before this century is over billions of us will die and the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable.
• By 2040 every summer in Europe will be... between 110F and 120F (43C - 49C).  It is not the death of people that is the main problem, it is the fact that the plants can't grow. There will be almost no food grown in Europe.
• By 2040, parts of the Sahara desert will have moved into middle Europe. We are talking about Paris. As far north as Berlin. In Britain we will escape because of our oceanic position. By 2040, China will be uninhabitable.
• Florida will be gone altogether, the whole damned place, in not too long.
• We have no option but to take our punishment and be glad that there will be enough of us to survive.

Source

In an interview with the BBC's Hardtalk, Lovelock predicted global population collapse, and that Earth can sustain no more than one billion people.

According to the Mail's article (2012), he has now said he was alarmist.  He states that though global warming is happening, it is not as rapid as he initially thought.  

What is the truth?  Was James Lovelock mistaken?  Was he correct, just a few decades too early in his predictions?  Or did he understate the dangers of climate change in his original assessment?  

The video below explores Tipping Points.  After watching, there follows a few questions which you can discuss with yourself or your class.

1. Is the above video biased in anyway?  Is it accurate?  Is it alarmist?  Can we believe it?
2. Does the video support Lovelock's initial predictions, or does it support his later view that he had got it wrong?
3. Is humanity able to predict what will happen to the climate over the next few centuries, especially taking into consideration the complexity of tipping points?   What research do we need to do to accomplish realistic models?
4. Are we able to predict the economic costs of reaching the various tipping points?
5. What temperature is required to initiate a tipping point?  Does passing one tipping point push us faster toward another tipping point?  
6. Can humanity avoid reaching the critical threshold temperature of a tipping point through technology?  What technologies?
7. Does humanity need to quickly reduce its use on fossil fuels?  If so, what would a post carbon economy look like?
8. What population, and what level of consumption is sustainable in a post carbon economy?  How do we measure what is sustainable?  What is sustainability anyway?

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